A Trip to Belarus
by Desty-Kalit
Summary: During a vacation to Belarus a normal girl comes face to face with Belarus herself. The two are sent into a dilemma of a potential world wide catastrophe. Belarus has no choice but to learn to work with a girl who is not even from her country. Inability to do so shall most likely lead to the destruction of the world's order.
1. Chapter 1

Most think vacations are a time to relax, mine on the other hand was anything but relaxing.

Ever since I got into history I had always wanted to see more of the world. Different cultures fascinated me and I wanted to learn from them. Then my interest sparked even further when I discovered the anime series; Hetalia. In Hetalia almost all the nations of the world had personifications, and it showed their interactions with each other in many humorous ways. This series got me through high school, and after having been stuck in America all my life, my desire to see more of the world grew. During my free time I had written down a list of nations I wanted to see the most. When I turned eighteen my interest in Hetalia was gone, but that was the time I began my international excursions, and so far my trips to them had been uneventful but at the same time a very new experience indeed.  
Now here I was at yet another country, the lovely nation of Belarus.  
I had been in Belarus for two days already, and I loved every minute of it. I spent my time visiting historical spots, going to the different shops, taking pictures, and sketching the sights in my art book. Now it was the third day, and on this particular day something happened that would change my life forever.  
I had been sitting on a bench outside a bookstore in Minsk. Earlier I had been sketching a bird perched on a lamp post, but it had flown off before I had gotten a good outline down. So here I was looking around for something else to inspire me. I looked up at the sky and sighed. I absentmindedly twisted around one of my light brown braids with my finger. My other hand was rhythmically tapping the sketchbook resting on my lap. I closed my hazel eyes and began to hum a bit hoping it would ease the boredom just a bit.

When I opened my eyes again someone entering the bookstore caught my interest. This person seemed familiar, even though I was certain I had never met them in my life. This person was a young woman around my age with long platinum blonde hair, with a dark blue bow centered right above her forehead. She was quite beautiful as well. I would have just continued to sit still, but something was urging me to follow her inside the store. I found her browsing some books, there was a stack of ones she had selected next to her. The books were in Russian, so I pulled out my translator. I soon figured out the books were a mix of fairy tales and some romance novels. I knew the latter were romance novels, for I had seen the same books in America.  
I truly felt as if I should know this woman, but there was no way I could have met her. Then it hit me, I knew now who she reminded me of.  
In my Hetalia days my favorite character had always been Belarus, I seemed to relate to her in a way. I always felt the fan base misunderstood her constantly. Most of them always saw Belarus as nothing else but as an insane stalker towards the character Russia. As much as that portrayed side of her intrigued me to like her in the first place, I still wanted to learn more about her. I studied her character a bit more, and I discovered there was more to her than loving and stalking Russia. When I learned more about her whole character I found a special connection to her.

Of course, I quickly shook off the idea this woman was Belarus. Hetalia was nothing but a work of fiction, nothing more, nothing less. There was no way the characters were real. Still though, I wanted to talk to her. I couldn't bring myself to do it, so I continued to watch her from behind bookshelves. She finished with her selections and brought the large stack of books to the cashier. She must of had quite the sum of money on her to pay for all that. That stack looked quite heavy too, but she seemed just fine carrying it in a bag with no problems. I stalked her as she left the store, but then her bag snagged on the door. The books fell out and into a big messy pile. She looked at them in alarm and knelt down to stack them up again. I felt bad for her and I glanced at my own large bag I had slung around my shoulder. My bag was plenty big enough to fit all those books. I knelt down in front of her,

"May I help you?" I asked in Russian. She looked up at me.

"Yes, thank you." she replied. "Though I would be grateful if you didn't attempt speaking Russian." she remarked in English.

I was taken aback by that statement.

"Is my Russian really that bad?" I questioned. She nodded and continued on stacking the books.  
"You can use my bag to hold your books I don't mind." I took my bag off of my shoulder and placed it next to the books.  
"Thank you for your generosity." The woman said, and began putting the books into my bag. When she finished, I held the door open for her. I followed her once she was through.  
"Are you from America?" she asked me.  
"Yes I am." I confirmed.  
"What brings you to Belarus?" She asked.  
"I'm just on a simple vacation, and I wanted to learn more about the history here." I explained.  
"If you want to learn about this nations history, I would be obliged to share it with you." She offered.  
I thanked her, I was happy that a local was going to share her historical knowledge with me.  
We sat on a bench together. I took out my historical notes book and a pen from a pocket on my shirt. She began answering my questions, I wrote down all her answers with a smile on my face. As I was asking her questions I realized there was something about her answers. The way she described historical events, it was almost like she had been there in person. I convinced myself to ignore this and continue my interview with her. I put the book and pen back into my shirt pocket once she finished.  
"Thanks so much for sharing all that with me." I was truly grateful.  
"You are most welcome." She replied.  
I then realized at that moment I had never asked for her name. "How silly of me, I haven't gotten your name yet." I apologized. She looked at me, "I'm Natalia Arlovskaya."  
That name, it was Belarus's human name. I stared in shock at her for a minute, surely this was a coincidence. This had to be a coincidence, there was no way she existed.  
"Is something the matter?" She asked in concern.  
"No, it's nothing." I smiled, and ignored my confusion.  
"What is your name?" She asked.  
"Oh, it's Elena, Elena Klein." I answered. I fidgeted a little bit, I could hardly believe I was in the presence of a personification of a nation. This was too good to be true. I managed to contain my excitement and continue a normal conversation with Natalia. "May I ask you about the books you bought?" I asked. Natalia seemed to take a moment to think it over till she gave me her permission.

"It seems you like Romance quite a bit." I shared my observation.

"I love to read them, the relationships seem so deep, after all I'm in love myself." There was a brief smile on her face, but her expression went neutral again.  
"What's he like? Uh, I'm not trying to get too personal, but I'd like to know." I asked nervously.  
"It's alright, I like to talk about him anyway." She had a thoughtful expression on her face, her eyes looked distant though. "He is strong, and intimidating that is one thing. He always seems to have that sweet smile on his face." I saw her smiling again as she thought more about her love. "I think, despite his intimidating nature, he truly means well."  
I knew exactly who she was talking about, she was describing Russia. I was going to keep it to myself that I knew more about her. "He sounds like quite the guy." I smiled, "I hope your relationship succeeds." I was trying to be supportive, but her smile vanished. "I don't think he likes me." She sighed.  
"Why do you think that?" I asked.  
"He tries to avoid me most of the time, I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong." She looked a little sad. I put my hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry I'm sure you will win his heart eventually." I encouraged her.  
"You think so?" She started to look hopeful. I nodded to reassure her.  
Then she stood up looking alert.

"What's wro-" she covered my mouth with her hand to shut me up. I got up, she seemed to be hearing something I wasn't. I looked around and noticed how dark it had gotten. I looked in Natalia's direction, she was staring at a cluster of trees. It was too dark, I couldn't see anything in them. Suddenly, Natalia tackled me to the ground and at the same time I heard the loud bang of a gun.

"What the hell!?" I cried in alarm.

Natalia got up quickly and pulled me to my feet, she didn't let go of my wrist instead she ran off pulling me behind her. I could hardly keep up with her pace she was so fast. "Natalia, what's going on?" I tried to get an explanation. "Just run." Was all she said. People watched us as we ran past. I turned around and saw some dangerous looking men were following us. Natalia kept taking sharp turns down different streets, I almost tripped several times. I couldn't do this for much longer, I was beginning to feel numb in my legs and chest from exhaustion. Despite her efforts we found ourselves standing in front of a dead end. I gasped for breath, my legs were shaking from running. Natalia turned to face our pursuers. She lifted up her skirt just a bit to reveal a handgun strapped around her thigh. She took the handgun from it's holster and aimed it at the men. She didn't hesitate to pull back the revolver, she glared at the group. "Come any closer, and I promise it is the last thing you will do."  
The men looked at one another, then focused their attention back on us. I had slumped against the wall behind us, still tired. I was scared, I didn't understand what was going on at all.  
A van appeared from the corner and headed towards us. The back doors flung open, and a man stepped out. It was too dark to distinguish what he looked like.

"Natalia Arlovskaya, you are to come with us." He said in a calm way.

"Why should I?" She answered, I could hear she was quite angry. She aimed the gun at the man, but he retained a confident look. I heard some sort of gun fired twice. I felt a sharp sting in my shoulder, I looked to see a tranquilizer dart embedded there. Natalia collapsed next to me out cold. I did my best to keep awake but it was no use. I slipped into unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

The first thing I noticed when I woke up was my aching shoulder. It took me a moment to fully register I was on a tiled floor in a small room. I lifted myself off the ground, and massaged the shoulder that I had been laying on. I noticed Natalia sitting with her back against the wall farthest away from the door. She was giving me a cold stare.

"Took you long enough to wake up." she snapped at me.

"How long was I out?" I asked.

"I've been up for hours, but I'm not sure how long it's been since we've been here." She answered.

I looked around the small blank room, nothing was in here but us. I sighed and wondered how this could be happening to me, all I wanted was a nice vacation. Well it seemed like there was nothing better to do but talk to Natalia.

"What do you think those guys want?" I asked.

"I believe they wanted me... because of what I am." Natalia finished her sentence quietly, but I heard what she said.

"You're a nation. Right?" I told her. She looked at me astonished at what I said.

"How did you know that?" She interrogated.

"Well, um, I..." There was no way I could tell her I knew that from some series that came from Japan. "How about we just say I just know, okay." I hoped she wouldn't try to question it further. I stood up completely and wandered around the small room. Even though I hadn't given it away to her, I was feeling quite scared. I had been captured by some weird guys in suits and brought to who knows where. On top of that I didn't know how long I had been unconscious and I dreaded the thought of what they could have done to me then. I felt my shirt pocket and discovered my notebook was still there, I felt relieved that at least I still had that. My pen was gone, and my wallet, sketchbook, and art supplies were in that bag we had left on the bench along with Natalia's books. Who knows what happened to our belongings we had left behind on the bench. I walked over to the door and examined the lock. I was sure it was useless to do so, but I wanted to get the hell out of here. I noticed the lock was one that I could unlock with a credit card by slipping it down onto the lock, or perhaps a notebook cover. A big grin appeared on my face.

"Hey, Natalia I got an idea." I stated.

"What is it?" She asked.

I didn't answer her, instead I took my notebook out of my shirt pocket and slipped the cover down the crack in the door. It took a little bit of effort before the lock gave away, but eventually I heard a click. I snickered a bit at how simple the lock was.

"Ta Da!" I exclaimed.

Natalia actually looked impressed at my accomplishment. We cautiously walked out of the room and into a long white hallway. Natalia looked around to make sure there were no security cameras. Luck was on our side today it seemed for there were none in sight and there was an air duct above us large enough for us to get through.

"Do you think you can lift me up there Elena?" She pointed up at the air duct. I nodded and grabbed her by her waist and lifted her up, she wasn't that heavy. "It's a good thing you're tall." She said down to me as she fiddled with the vent. She gave the vent a good push, I cringed at the loud bang it made when it came off it's nails. She used me as a support to climb in and turned back to me. She lowered her arms down. I stood a bit on my toes to reach her but once I did she pulled me up and placed the vent back in place as soon I was inside the duct.

We crawled through the air duct for what seemed like thirty minutes till we heard voices coming from a vent near us.

"So you're telling me they escaped?" An angry man's voice said.

"Y-yes sir, we don't know how they unlocked the door, and we can't find where they could be hiding." The other voice said. There was a loud bang as if someone had slammed his fist down on a table. "Damnit we can not let them get away! Find them now and quit wasting time!" The first voice yelled.

We heard footsteps, I assumed it was the second person leaving the room. We stood still but heard nothing else. "Let's keep going" Natasha whispered to me. We crawled forward, eventually we came across the vent we had been looking for. It was the one that led outside. Natalia turned herself onto her back and had her legs facing the vent. She pulled back her right leg and kicked the vent out. She slid out of the opening and disappeared from my sight, I followed. I landed on the ground and almost sprained my ankle by landing on it slightly wrong. I brushed myself off and Natalia looked impatiently at me.

"Let's go." she hissed and grabbed my wrist dragging me behind her.

The air was hot even though it was nighttime, I didn't recognize the landscape though.

"Where do you think we are?" I asked. She looked around, "I'm not sure." Was all she said. We found a group of vans, we ducked out of sight when a guard came close.

"He has some car keys." I whispered to Natalia. She nodded and snuck her way over to the guard. When she got behind him she jabbed her right elbow into the back of his head. The guard stumbled forward and hit the ground. She had managed to knock him out. She knelt down next to him and fumbled with the key ring chained to his belt. She unhooked a set of car keys and hurried to me. The keys worked on the third van we tried, we got in. I offered to drive, I turned the keys in the ignition, geared it to drive, and stepped on it. I quickly found the gates that out, I rammed through them. The noise they made certainly was going to alert the entire facility. I drove quickly down the road not daring to slow down, I was going 85 mph. I felt as if I was in some sort of action movie or something, too bad this was real.

It took a while till we got to a main road, I saw the sign that told us exactly where we were. Apparently we were 145 miles from Sydney. We were in Australia... Australia! I almost went into shock, I could hardly believe that I had been out cold long enough to be transported all the way from Minsk, Belarus in Europe all the way to Australia. My hands were shaking and the van started swerving around the road. "Focus!" Natalia snapped at me. I shook my head and regained my concentration.

"So what should we do now?" I asked.

"We need to get to Sydney before I can figure that out." She said.

"Do you think Australia could help?" I couldn't remember what his human name was. Apparently Natalia had understood who I was talking about.

"How do you know about him?" she interrogated.

"I, uh, just know..." I answered nervously. I glanced at the gas meter on the dash, it was fortunately full.

"Do you know how to find him?" I asked.

"Yes, he lives in Canberra. It isn't too far from Sydney." She said.

"Perhaps we should get a map once we get to Sydney, I have never been in this country before." I said.

Natalia told me that she knew the way, so I took her word for it. It didn't seem she wanted to risk stopping for anything.

Hours passed till we finally arrived in Canberra, it was getting dark again. Natalia had been giving me instructions the whole time. We eventually arrived at a large house.

"Is this the one?" I asked.

"Yes." She told me.

I parked the van on the curb in front of it. We both got out and walked up the walk leading to the front door.

Natalia rang the doorbell. It took a couple of minutes before a man opened the door. His brown hair was a bit messy. He had a band-aid over the bridge of his nose. He wore a brown leather vest and a pair of dark blue jeans.

He seemed rather surprised to see Natalia. It took him awhile to notice me.

"G'day, what brings you here?" He greeted us.

"It's a long story. Please, may we stay here for a bit." Natalia said.

He didn't say anything as he thought his decision over. I stared at him as he made up his mind.

Now that we were out of danger I couldn't help but remember my Hetalia days again. Australia was a character I never got into. Perhaps I could get to know him more now. Afterall he was actually standing in front of me. My train of thought was broken off.

"Of course you can." He said as he made up his mind.

Belarus thanked him and we both went inside. I stared in astonishment at my surroundings. There was a couch in the middle of the living room to the right, a blanket was draped over it. Around the walls there were fancy looking boomerangs, a crocodile skull, and some other objects that I couldn't distinguish.

"So, who is the girl?" Australia asked Natalia.

"No one important." Natalia said. I turned to glare at her. Australia smiled at me though.

"What's your name?" He asked me.

"It's Elena." I answered. "What's yours?"

"You can call me Ralph." He answered. He held out his hand to me, I took it. He gave me a rough handshake, while squeezing my hand tightly. When he let go I grasped my hand, it was sore.

"Well I have a guest room you two ladies can share." He said. He led us upstairs and to the said guest room. Ralph opened the door for us, I thanked him. Natalia and I stepped inside. I then noticed a koala sitting on the headboard of the bed.

"Oops, I've been wondering where he went off to." He explained. He walked over to the bed and lifted the koala off and placed it on his shoulder.

"Well if you need anything, just call out. G'night," He said as he closed the door behind him.

I walked over to a dresser in the corner of the room. There were some large shirts in one the drawers. The shirts were large enough to be used as nightshirts.

"We probably should go buy some new clothes tomorrow." I said.

"Agreed." Was Natalia's only response.

I handed one of the shirts to her. We both changed into them and crawled into the queen sized bed. Our backs were facing each other.

I reflected on all that happened to me. The original plan was to have a nice, peaceful trip to Belarus. Now it had led to being kidnapped by some kind of organization, transported all the way to Australia, and escape from them. I was now staying in a nation's home, and sharing a bed with another nation. What a trip.

"Why are you mad at me?" I asked Natalia.

"I'm not mad at you, I'm just irritated by this whole thing is all." She explained.

"Well I'm glad you're not mad at me. Perhaps we could just work together." I offered.

"Yes, that would be nice." She agreed.

I smiled to myself, feeling a bit at ease. I realized something.

"Oh no!" I exclaimed.

"What is it now?" She seemed grouchy at my outburst.

"I just realized how expensive my hotel bill is going to be!" I cried in alarm.

Natasha sighed, and muttered to herself. "I can't believe that's what you're worried about after what you've been through."

I laughed nervously and calmed down. She did have a good point. I wanted to talk to her a bit more, but I noticed she had already dozed off. I decided to do the same. I pulled the covers up a bit more over my shoulders. Sleep came over me quickly.


	3. Chapter 3

Let me tell you a little bit about driving. I will admit to driving fast if put behind the wheel of a sports car or anything that can take sharp turns. (Or perhaps a van while escaping from some organization.) Other than going above the speed limit a bit, I'm a pretty responsible driver. I will also admit to being a passenger while the driver is a bit out of control. I would have never guessed I would be actually terrified of someone's driving. Until today that is.

I woke up that morning feeling quite refreshed. Natalia was already gone. She must be an early riser. I then hesitantly put on the same clothes I had been wearing for the past few days. It sure would feel nice once I got some new clothes.

I walked downstairs and found the kitchen. Natalia and Ralph were sitting at the kitchen table together. They were talking to each other. Most likely Natalia was talking about her and my predicament.

"Good morning!" I greeted as I headed over to them.

"Aren't you cheerful." Natalia remarked. Apparently she had gone back to giving me the cold shoulder. Irritated with her remark I decided to explore Ralph's kitchen instead.

"Hey Ralph, is it okay if I made myself some breakfast." I asked.

"Go right ahead." He said happily.

I found some interesting food items in his fridge as I went scavenging. I picked out some eggs and grabbed some butter.

"Where do you keep the pans?" I asked.

He pointed at a cabinet next to the stove. I pulled out the pan and started fixing scrambled eggs. The smell of them cooking reminded me of how hungry I was. Then I decided to fix some for Natalia and Ralph. I was pretty sure Natalia was just as famished as me. I felt bad for imposing on Ralph, so that's why I decided to fix him some eggs as well.

I found a spice cabinet while I was still cooking the first set of eggs. I added some rosemary and other things to the eggs.

Finally I was finished, I placed the eggs onto plates.

"Here I made breakfast for everyone!" I exclaimed as I set the plates down in front of Natalia and Ralph.

"Ah, thank you mate, they smell great!" Ralph thanked me.

I couldn't help at smile at the compliment. Natalia on the other hand gave them a cold stare. She eventually started poking at the eggs with a fork as if they were alive and were going to jump up any second. I gave her an irritated look as I stuffed a mouthful of eggs into my mouth.

"They taste great as well!" Ralph announced.

Natalia gave them one last look at the eggs and decided to try them as well.

"They're good... I guess." She muttered.

I grinned triumphantly as if I had accomplished something so important.

There wasn't much said as we finished breakfast. Natalia offered to clean up. Ralph seemed happy with himself due to the fact there were two ladies helping out. He got up and picked up the koala that I hadn't noticed before clinging to the stair mantle.

"You're not going to bring that with us are you?" I asked nervously.

"Of course not!" He said in a cheerful way, then started laughing. "I was just going to put him away." He continued.

Ralph disappeared somewhere, then reappeared with a pair of keys he was twirling around his finger.

"Well ready to go?" he asked, still smiling.

Natalia and I both nodded. We followed him out to his garage where a jeep resided. I got in with a bit of hesitation. There was something about the way he was grinning that made me nervous to get in a vehicle he was driving.

As soon as the garage door was open, he started up the jeep quickly. He backed up the jeep so quickly that my head jerked a bit. He clicked a clicker to close the garage door and with a squeal of tires on pavement off we went.

When we arrived at the shopping mall my fingers were sore from squeezing my seat tightly the whole trip there. I don't think I'm going to bother to name off all the traffic violations Ralph had just committed. Natalia seemed nonchalant about the whole trip.

When I got out of the jeep I noticed my legs were a bit wobbly, probably because I had been fearing for my life just a moment ago.

"Well we're here!" Ralph yelled out.

"Finally." I sighed.

"Something wrong?" He asked concernedly.

I shook my head. "Nope nothing at all." I lied. For some reason I think he liked to drive that way. He couldn't be any scarier when driving, right?

Natalia and I had been looking through clothing for a while. Well I had picked out some outfits minutes ago. She was the one taking so long. Ralph looked bored as he stood outside the shop's entrance. I didn't blame him. I was never a girl to be all hyped up about shopping, and when I was dragged to malls with girls who were; that was torture.

"You should consider something more flattering." Natalia said as she glanced at the clothes I held in my hand. I was getting tired of her criticism at everything I had picked out. I prefered simple clothes that were a bit baggy. The fanciest thing I'd ever wear was dress shirts. She on the other hand wore frilly clothes. Frilly things such as blouses and skirts. I refrained from commenting on her selection.

Ralph was looking over at us so I waved him over. He didn't seem to be upset that he was paying. We had no other choice, afterall Natalia and I had no money.

We got back to the jeep, somehow I had ended up carrying all the bags. We all got into the jeep, and Ralph again zoomed off as soon as he could. I sighed and decided to calm down this time around. Even if he was an insane driver, he seemed to know what he was doing. I glanced in the rearview mirror and noticed some black cars behind us. I payed no mind to them at the time. Then I observed that they kept taking all the turns we were taking. On top of that they seemed to be attempting to surround us. I didn't know how they had found us, but I knew one thing, we had to lose them. "Ralph I think we are being followed!" I yelled over the wind from the open windows.

"So you think so too?!",He yelled back. "Well guess we are going to have to lose them."

A big maniacal grin appeared on his face. Before I knew what was happening the jeep had sped up considerably. He took turns so sharp that I was afraid the jeep was going to tip over. It appeared few of the drivers of the cars didn't have the maneuvering skills Ralph had. Right off the bat a couple of the cars crashed into side rails or walls. Though the others managed to keep right on our tail. Ralph kept glancing in the rearview mirror. He tried a new strategy. As insane as it was it was working quite well. He ended up driving where cars shouldn't be. Pedestrians yelled at us as we sped past.

There was only one car left following us. I wasn't sure how Ralph was planning to lose this persistent car, but I whatever he would do I don't think I was going to like it. At the time we were on a road with a steep edge. When we came to a curve Ralph drove right over it, and we fell. The whole time he was laughing like he was having the best time of his life. Luckily, we landed safely on all four tires. He drove off with the last car nowhere in sight.

I let out a breath of relief that it was all over. I loosened the firm grip I had retained on the shopping bags. It was fairly uneventful on our way back to Ralph's house. Of course he continued with his radical driving, but it was nothing compared to what happened earlier.

When we got back the door had been kicked in. I stared in shock at the sight. What could have happened? Ralph didn't even bother putting the jeep in the garage. Instead he got out in a hurry and rushed to his vandalized home. Natalia and I followed him shortly afterwards. We found him looking around his ransacked home. He was rather furious at its state. I looked around at the mess, it was a disaster. Items were tossed everywhere, and furniture had been upturned.

"Damnit they stole them all!" Ralph cried out furiously.

He was standing around some broken picture frames. Whatever pictures had been in them seemed like they had been quite important to him. I felt sorry for him, and I couldn't help but feel somewhat responsible for this.

I went to look if his koala was still there. I hoped for his sake that they hadn't taken that animal as well. The koala was cowering behind the washer machine. It had taken me awhile to find the laundry room in the first place. I tried to gently coax the koala out of its hiding spot. He refused to budge. So I pulled the washer machine forward with much effort. I quickly grabbed the animal before it could react. It squirmed so much, that I could barely hang on to him. I brought back the koala to his owner. Ralph seemed to lighten up as soon as he saw his pet. He scooped him up and place him on his shoulder.

"Thank you so much!" He thanked me. He gave me a pat on the back that almost had me fall face first into the ground.

"We can't stay here it seems." Natalia said.

Ralph nodded in agreement. He looked sad as we left his home in its state, but there was no other choice. I noticed as we were leaving that the van Natalia and I had driven in to get here, was gone.

We had checked into the airport near the airport. Natalia had explained to Ralph that whoever these people were, they were based in his country. It was apparent that staying in Australia no matter how big, was not a good idea.

We had gotten separate hotel rooms. Natalia and I stayed in one, while Ralph stayed in one next to us. It felt so nice to have a shower that night and put on fresh clothes. Natalia seemed to be enjoying the same thing.

Later that night I was up writing in my history notebook. I had changed it into a diary for the time being. I wondered where we were going to go anyway. I decided I would ask that question in the morning.

The next morning I remembered what I was going to ask.

"So where are we heading off to?" I asked.

Natalia took a moment to decide whether to give me an answer or not. I was really getting tired of this treatment she was giving me. She kept treating me like I was not important in anyway whatsoever.

Finally she answered, "We are heading to Japan."

"Japan? Why?" I asked, I wasn't sure I heard her right.

"Yes, and don't ask questions." She snapped at me.

I couldn't believe it we were going to Japan. Maybe I was going to enjoy this whole adventure after all.


	4. Chapter 4

Tokyo, Japan was one of the greatest sights I had ever seen in my entire life.

I had been looking out the plane window for the longest time wanting to get the earliest glimpse I possibly could. I had always wanted to come to Japan, but there was no way I could ever afford it. I could hardly stand still I was waiting to get off the plane. Once I was clear from the crowd I walked fast and stared. The Hanada Airport was huge. I kept looking every which way completely in awe.

"Quit gawking, you look like an idiot." Natalia snapped at me.

"Leave her alone, and let her enjoy herself." Ralph said in my defense.

I didn't know how he had managed to get a koala onto a plane in the first place, but he did. The cage the koala resided was covered. It was meant to not draw attention. Usually things that people can't see seem to get just as much stares. Now that I thought of it, we must be quite the sight. Especially if you saw what Ralph and Natalia was wearing. Natalia was wearing a dark blue short sleeve blouse with frills at the bottom of the sleeves. She had a button up collar with a blue bow tied around it. She wore a white knee length skirt with frills and tiny bows at the bottom. There was also a blue bow tied around her waist, and her usual bow in her hair.

As for Ralph, he wore a dark brown Bac Pac Hat made from Australian leather. He wore a short sleeved khaki shirt and capris with dark brown belt strapped around his waist. He wore dark brown ankle high boots. I also noticed he was wearing a necklace (made of what I guessed to be crocodile teeth) slightly hidden under his shirt collar.

As for me I was only wearing a red t-shirt, blue jeans, and sneakers.

We made our way through the airport. I was keeping a conversation up with Ralph. I did my best to ignore the stares and whispers that Ralph and Natalia were getting.

We managed to get out and got ourselves a taxi.

I looked out the window I as we rode through Tokyo. There was a time where I looked at pictures for ages. It was even better being right there.

I wish I still had my camera with me. How I wanted to capture the sights on a camera. Maybe I could buy one and go sightseeing later. I could also get a new sketchbook. Or I could get some anime merchandise that was hard to find in the US. Perhaps I could get them all. Of course I remembered that I had no money. There was no way I was going to mooch off someone who did have money. I could ask for money, but I shouldn't impose. I sighed in disappointment that I couldn't get some things. Though the only reason I was here was due to some inconvenient problems.

I wondered why we had even come to Japan in the first place. What possible issue could be solved by coming here? I did know for a fact there were closer countries to Australia. It didn't matter to me, I had no say in what nations decided. Afterall I was just an ordinary human girl being dragged into all this.

I felt a tap on my shoulder that interrupted my thought process.

"We're here, lets go." Natalia said.

I got out of the taxi and grabbed my luggage. I looked up at the house in front of me. It was a large estate from what I could tell. The house looked older than the ones I had seen on the way here. Despite its age it was a majestic place.

"Um, is he expecting us?" I asked.

"Yes, I called him before we left Australia." Natalia reassured me.

I saw a handsome man come out of the house and approach us. He had short black hair with bangs and two locks that framed his face. His dark brown eyes looked rather emotionless. Another thing I noticed was that he was shorter than I.

When he got to us he bowed slightly.

"Konichiwa, it is a pleasure to have you." He said politely.

He turned to me and stared. It made me rather uncomfortable from his curious stare.

"I'm Kiku Honda, it's an honor to meet the woman I've heard so much about." He greeted me.

I looked at Natalia and wondered what she could have told him about me.

"It's nice to meet you as well, I'm Elene Klein." I said back to Kiku.

He nodded, and turned to Ralph and Natalia.

"Please come in." He said.

He turned and began walking back to the house. We followed right behind him.

Once inside I looked around a bit. The decorations were lovely, and now I really wished I had a camera. I remembered to take off my shoes by the door. Ralph had to be reminded to do so though.

We sat around a table sitting on our knees. Kiku was busy pouring tea for us all. He set the teapot down and continued with his blank stare at me.

"Let's discuss our predicament." Natalia said interrupting the silence. Kiku turned his attention towards her as she explained the situation. When she finished he closed his eyes and nodded.

"I see then." He said.

Again he was staring at me. I didn't like it one bit.

"What are you planning on doing with her?" He asked; obviously the question was about me.

"She knows too much, it's for the best that we keep an eye on her." Natalia said.

"What do you mean by she knows too much?"

"She knows what we are. I'm not sure how she figured it out."

His staring was really starting to annoy me now. It was as if he knew that I might say something about what I knew if he kept it up. There was no way they would take me seriously if I told them how I knew. It didn't appear he was going to give up any time soon. I finally snapped and blurted out the truth.

"I know what you are from an anime and manga series!"

Kiku picked up his teacup and took a sip. I could have sworn I saw him smirk for a brief second. He set the cup down.

"What is this series call might I ask?" He interrogated; he was staring at me again.

"Hetalia." I said hesitantly.

Natalia looked confused at my confession.

"What do you mean you know about us from some Japanese series?" She asked sternly, then turned to Kiku. "Exactly what is she talking about?"

"I have no control over what my people create." Was all Kiku said.

It was almost impossible to tell what he was thinking. His expression always remained neutral.

No matter how much Natalia tried to ask him about what he knew, he would manage to dodge the question completely. I kept to myself the rest of the time. I couldn't help but feeling embarrassed that I confessed my like for anime and manga.

Ralph didn't say much the whole time as well. I suspected he didn't know what to say.

Finally, Natalia had given up on getting answers from Kiku. Once she did, he offered a chance for Natalia and I to enjoy ourselves in the hot spring baths. Apparently there were some right behind his home. I jumped on the chance to go to one. Natalia barely agreed to go as well. At first the idea of them was nice. That was great till I remembered I had to be nude with another person. I compensated by deciding I'd get in them first and get out last. That way she wouldn't see me at all.

I succeeded in getting to them first. It felt wonderful soaking in there. I enjoyed the nice quiet solitude for a few minutes. Until Natalia came out as well. We sat there in the water staring at one another in silence.

"These are nice, are they not?" She asked me.

I nodded in agreement glad that she had broken the awkward silence yet again.

"Have you been in one before?" I asked curiously.

"Yes I have, but it was years ago." She said. "You seem to be enjoying them very much."

I had emerged myself to my chin and I had quite the content look on my face.

"By the way, would you care to explain to me what Hetalia is?" She brought up the question again.

"Of course I will." I answered.

It took a few minutes for me to explain it all to her. When I finished I said, "But I lost interest a couple years ago."

She then kept asking questions about certain details. I was more than happy to explain them. I felt that spark I once had when I was into Hetalia. It felt strange to have it back again, but welcomed. When she stopped asking questions I decided to bring up another important subject.

"If I may ask? Is there any written records of you and the other nations?" I asked.

Natalia hesitated to answer that. "Yes, but they are kept by us and the government only. They are mostly reports we have written for the government, and photographs."

"What sort of pictures?" I asked.

"Pictures of us with important government officials for our countries. Some are just us with each other." She explained.

I nodded to indicate I had understood then gave my input. "Do you think it is possible that whatever that organization is called, got a hold on some of those documents and pictures?"

"It is possible, but I don't see what they are trying to accomplish by capturing us." She said.

I thought it over for a minute. Unfortunately no conclusion came to mind.

"Unless they think that if they have us they can influence the countries politics." She theorized. She seemed to be onto something.

"How could that possibly work?" I remarked.

"I'm not sure myself. Though they may have figured out something we haven't come up with." She said.

We again fell into silence. I thought over our ideas as I submerged myself deeper into the water. I did know one thing; there was no way we could let them succeed. Who knows what would happen to the world if they accomplished their goals. What could I do though? Maybe the nations could take care of themselves. Afterall they were usually more physically advantaged over humans. Especially nations such as America or Russia. I couldn't see any human getting the upper hand in a fight.

Natalia and I finished with our time in the bath. We found two robes folded up next to each other in the changing room. I hoped whoever had set them there hadn't also decided to take a peek at us. The thought made me quite uncomfortable. We got dressed and came out.

"We're done." I announced.

Kiku was sitting at the table we had been sitting at earlier.

"Did you enjoy yourselves?" He asked.

"Yes, thank you for letting us use them." I thanked him politely.

He led us to a guest room, and I thanked him once again before he left. I then sat down on a futon laying on the ground. I started to write in my history notebook again. I wrote down theories of what I could possibly do to help the nations. I finished writing and set the notebook aside and soon drifted off into sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

I woke up the next day eager to do something fun for once. I wanted to get my mind off of all that had happened for just a little bit.

As always Natalia was up way before me. I had no idea where she had went off to. As I searched for her I found Kiku sitting on the porch behind his home. Somehow he knew I was there even though I hadn't made that much noise.

"Good morning Klein-san." Kiku greeted me.

It was strange to hear my last name with an honorific, but it was the custom around here so I supposed I would get used to it.

"Morning Honda-san." I said in response. I felt it would be polite to address him that way. After all he was letting me stay in his home.

He continued to sit still. I wondered what he was looking at.

"Have you seen Natalia?" I asked him.

"No I haven't, but I heard her moving about." He replied oddly.

How long had he been sitting there? I had the feeling that he did that every morning. It seemed awfully boring. Then an idea came to mind.

"Honda-san I'm going to go out today. Do you want to come?" I asked.

He didn't answer me right away, but instead stayed silent till he gave me a reply.

"I'll think about it." He said plainly.

Natalia came from another room she looked annoyed with me. I wasn't sure what I had done to make her resent me. I wish I could change her mind about me.

"What is this about going out?" She said coolly.

"I just wanted to see the sights. That's all." I replied.

She looked at me with her usual cold glare, but then she said something I wasn't expecting at all.

"May I come with you?" She said hesitantly.

I couldn't help but grin. I nodded and dashed off to get ready. When I came out of the room I found Kiku standing in front of the door. He was holding some sort of package then proceeded to hand it to me.

"Spend it wisely." He said.

"Thank you." I said baffled.

I looked in the package to find what appeared to be a credit card. I was suspicious of why he would give me such a thing. I wondered what his motives could be. I convinced myself to be wary of him. It wasn't something I wanted to do, but he was acting a little too overgenerous.

Natalia was waiting for me at the front door. I slid on my shoes and unwittingly grabbed her hand to pull her outside. She didn't protest about it like I thought she would.

We later found ourselves getting further and further into the city of Tokyo. I couldn't read what anything said, but the images of the advertisements, unique shops, and just the energy of Tokyo's city life; was all that I needed. Without asking Natalia, I dragged her into any shop that caught my eye. I purchased what started out as only a few things. My number of souvenirs quickly multiplied to the point that Natalia had to carry a few things. She didn't seem too happy about that though. I needed to make her cheer up somehow. As if answering me I noticed what appeared to be a Karaoke place. I beelined straight for it. I turned towards Natalia who was giving me a disgruntled expression.

"Come on Natalia, it will be fun." I said encouragingly.

She followed me into the Karaoke place with stiff steps.

I had no idea what had come over me today. All I felt like doing was having as much fun as I could. Perhaps Natalia could loosen up after awhile. The way she was acting made me question why she even came with me in the first place.

We got into our own personal room with a yellowish hue. A couch with a low rise table in front of it was on one side of the room. On the wall opposite of the furniture was a screen. Microphones were resting in some slots.

I walked over to the table where a remote lay. I picked up the remote and began to press buttons. It was difficult finding songs, considering the fact they were all in Japanese. At last I found a song that was actually in English. I selected it and began singing into a microphone. I had a blast doing so. When I finished I faced Natalia and smiled at her.

"Your singing is pathetic." She remarked.

"Hey! I want to see you try." I said as I handed the microphone to her.

She took it and the remote and went looking through the songs. She finally stopped on one and selected it. I was absolutely taken aback at her singing skills. It sounded so lovely and emotional. When she finished I stared at her in awe and began applauding her. She looked proud of her self. A smile appeared on her face.

We were soon laughing together, teasing one another when we messed up on a song. It was nice to hear her laugh. I felt that perhaps she was finally enjoying herself. She was constantly criticizing my attempts at singing decently. Only this time they were playful remarks. She even went so far to give me tips. Even with them I realized my singing voice was hopeless.

We left the karaoke bar in high spirits. Laughing and telling jokes to one another. I could hardly tell this was the same person from this morning. Natalia was acting completely out of character but I wasn't complaining. I liked this side of her.

An arcade came into our notice. Once again her talents surpassed mine. She found it hilarious every time I went into false rage when she beat me at yet another game. I didn't mind, as long as we were both enjoying ourselves I could easily handle her remarks. I wondered if she had ever been this way ever in her long life. Was there a time before where she would only laugh and smile? It could be possible, but for a nation. How long ago could have that actually been the case?

It felt cliche, but I managed to get her into a photobooth. The photos came out great, and I couldn't help but burst into hysterics at a certain picture where she had attempted a silly face.

At this time it was getting dark outside. I made the suggestion to visit one last place and then we could go back to Kiku's home.

We came to a place where a tall fountain was spouting out water. It was lit up so it looked so beautiful and magnificent.

"I hope today was fun for you?" I asked Natalia hopefully.

She nodded with a soft smile on her lips. Her blue eyes reflected the fountain's lights. I wasn't in love with her or anything like that. I did not go that way. All I felt for her was admiration and just possibly a wonderful friend.

We were about to take our leave, when I heard a familiar voice.

"Elena, is that you?" Someone said.

I turned and my eyes widened in surprise to see a classmate from college standing there.

"Dustin, what are you doing in Tokyo?" I said baffled.

He laughed a bit at my expression.

"Family trip. We come here a lot actually." He explained.

I remembered that he once told me his parents came from Japan to America before he was born. What I didn't know is that it seemed they would visit Japan every other year.

"Wait a minute, I thought you were supposed to be on vacation in Belarus?" He said confused.

"I was..." I said as I shifted my eyes nervously. "But there was a slight change in plans."

"Is this boy a friend of yours?" Natalia questioned me.

"Yeah, we go to a lot of the same classes in college." I explained.

She nodded and stared down Dustin with her normal cold demeanor. She took my left hand and began to pull me away from him.

"Elena before you go, there is one thing I want to ask." He said in a hurry.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Would you like to go to a Tanabata festival tomorrow?" He said. I saw him blush slightly. I pretended that I didn't notice. Natalia let go of my hand and I stood there for awhile. I nodded slowly unsure of how to react. He grinned and looked quite excited.

"Alright, I'll meet you here at noon tomorrow." He said before he ran off.

Did he just ask me out? I had no clue that Dustin was the least bit interested in me. We had only talked a little bit during class or breaks. It was nothing ever personal, just plain topics about our different interests.

"Let's go." Natalia snapped at me, breaking me out of my daze.

There had been no problems on our way back to Kiku's home. We carefully dumped the load of souvenirs on the floor. We took off our shoes and picked up the haul.

"I thought I told you to shop wisely." Kiku said.

He was sitting at the table with his usual cup of tea resting in his hands.

"Sorry Honda-san I kind of got carried away." I said guiltily.

"It's alright, as long as you enjoyed yourselves I'm not too upset." He said in his usual polite voice.

When Natalia and I had set the souvenirs down in our guest room, I returned to Kiku. I sat down across from him.

"Someone invited me to a Tanabata festival tomorrow." I told Kiku.

"Is that so?" He said.

"Can you tell me about Tanabata Honda-san?" I asked.

He nodded and took a slow slip of tea. His eyes looked at me in his blank stare.

"Long ago, Orihime the daughter of Tentie would weave beautiful clothes by the bank of the Amanogawa. Or as we call it the Milky Way." He paused to make sure that I was paying attention. Then he continued with his story. "Orihime became saddened after a while. She felt she would never be able to fall in love, for she was always busy weaving. Her father became concerned and arranged a marriage with Hikoboshi the Cow Herder. When they met love struck them both instantly. They were soon married and were both so happy. Orihime stopped weaving her cloth and Hikoboshi let the cows wander around. this angered Tentei, and as a result he separated the lovers on either side of the Amanogawa. Heartbroken, the two lovers still did not do their work. Tentei felt sorry for his daughter and told her that she could see Hikoboshi once a year on the seventh day of the seventh month. When that day came they gazed at one another longingly, but there was no bridge to cross over Amanogawa. They grew sad again, then a flock of magpies flew to Orihime. They told her that they could build a bridge for the two lovers to cross, but only on the seventh day of the seventh month. The lovers agreed to this and so the magpies built the bridge. So on the seventh day of the seventh month, unless it is cloud, Orihime and Hikoboshi are reunited." He finished his story let out a slight sigh.

"That's such a beautiful story. Thank you for sharing it" I said.

He nodded and glanced outside the room.

"The festivities that my people hold are fun and excited. I do believe you may enjoy them." He told me.

I thanked him one more time before I got up to head back to the guest room. At that moment Ralph burst through the front door. He was cheering loudly and going on about some sort of bar. I did my best to ignore him as I exited the room.

As I was writing in my notebook I realized something. The seventh day of the seventh month huh? Well looks like it was going to also be my twentieth birthday tomorrow.


	6. Chapter 6

'Happy Birthday to me', I thought as I was walking around outside Kiku's home. It appeared to be a good day already. The sun was out and for some reason the sky was a lovely shade of forget-me-not. Also Kiku's garden seemed to bring about even more of a good mood in me. Speaking of Kiku though, I had no idea where he was at the moment. I suppose he went out for the day. I guess it isn't any of my business to know so I suppose I could do something with Natalia. Ralph wasn't here anymore as well. I heard late last night that he was going to New Zealand early in the morning. He was gone before I had woke up. So yeah, it was just me and Natalia. The last I saw Natalia she had been in Kiku's kitchen. She was still there when I went to look for it. Right as soon I was about to say something I noticed she was humming something. I decided to wait for her to stop it seemed rude to interrupt her.

When she stopped I spoke up at last, "Good Morning Natalia."

She turned and looked at me with a hint of a smile on her face.

"Good Morning." She replied cheerfully.

I was surprised she was in a good mood. I had thought that she would just go back to her usual self. Instead here she was still seemingly happy from yesterday.

"Hey, do you know what day it is today?" I said mischievously.

"July 7th." She answered curtly.

"Yes it is, but today's a special day for me." I said with only a slight hint of annoyance.

She shrugged and went back to whatever she was doing. I sighed but I knew I wasn't being fair. How was she supposed to know it was my birthday anyhow? We had only known eachother for only a week. Also what an eventful week it's been.

"What is it you mean by 'special day'?" Natalia asked.

I guess it was time to stop being so cryptic. "It's my birthday today, I'm twenty today." I said.

"Happy Birthday then." She responded.

After that it was silent between us. I guess I supposed I should be used to awkward silence. I assumed she couldn't come up with something to talk about anyway. I must admit it's fun to talk to her even if she comes off as cold and aloof.

I just remembered something! Today is also the Tanabata festival and I have been asked out. I started fidgeting thinking about what I was going to do.

"Are you alright?" Natalia asked in concern.

"Fine, just fine. Except for one little fact." I said.

"Which is?"

"Well remember that guy yesterday?"

She nodded.

"He asked me out and I have no idea what to do." I whined.

Natalia sat, she seemed to be considering what to do. Then it seemed an idea had come to her.

"Well to start you need to get ready." She said plainly.

"Ah! You're right!" I exclaimed and bolted from the room.

I went scavenging for something to wear. I found something I had bought yesterday. It seemed okay even if it was slightly girlier than I was used to. I had never been on a date before so getting stuff together was stressing me out.

When I finally decided I was presentable I went out. I walked all the way to where I saw Dustin yesterday. I was slightly out of breath from walking all that way. I hoped he would be there and that I wasn't late. As fate would have it he was there. He was sitting on a bench checking what appeared to be his cell phone.

I took a deep breath and approached him.

"Um, h-hello." I said shakingly.

Dustin looked up and a big grin appeared on his face.

"Elena I'm glad you're here I was concerned that you weren't going to make it." He said happily.

"So I am late?" I asked a little upset.

"Yeah but it doesn't matter. You're here now so uh, ready to go?" He asked as he put his hand on my upper back. I flinched at his touch and he pulled his hand away. He looked a little embarrassed.

"So, um how does this whole festival work anyhow?" I asked.

"Well actually I was planning on just hanging out for now and go to one of the festival grounds later in the evening." He said.

So we would be doing more? I was interested in what the Japanese actually did for this festival, but it looked like that was going to have wait. I did notice however decorations that were put up along the city streets. It was certainly a colorful sight.

Dustin took me to some places that I had already been to yesterday with Natalia. I didn't complain however he seemed to be happy taking me to them. Not everything was the same however. He showed me some places I hadn't even noticed before. He would also talk to me about Japanese culture. The subject didn't last long and soon we were going on about holidays in places all over the world. It was nice to talk to someone about history and cultures. Most people my age would just roll their eyes and start playing with their phones or whatever techy gadget was at hand when I talked to them about history.

After a while Dustin and I had settled in a sushi bar. This had happened shortly after I had hinted my undying love for sushi. He did however had to translate for me. I couldn't understand or definitely not read a word of Japanese. The sushi here was different than some of the stuff they had in America's sushi place. I recognized a few things but some were completely alien to me.

I had never been a picky eater when it came to sushi. Dustin seemed impressed at my taste for the really odd stuff that I wanted. I couldn't help it, it was so good.

We finished up there and spent sitting around going on about all sorts of different subjects. I noticed they sky was starting to change colors as the sun began going down.

"So are we going to the festival grounds anytime soon?" I asked.

"Yah, but maybe you should wear something traditional." Dustin said a bit shyly.

"Traditional?" I asked curiously.

"Um, yeah like a yukata." He explained.

"I don't believe I have one of those at all."

"Then we can get you one."

"But it's too late in the day... unless."

"Unless what?"

I stood up and told him to follow me. I had a good lead on where exactly I could find a yukata this late in the day. We were both out of breath when we arrived at Kiku's house.

"Stay here, I'll be right back." I told Dustin.

"Fine." He said seemingly a little disappointed.

I went into the home where Natalia was waiting for me.

"What are you wearing?" I asked her when I noticed she was wearing something rather unusual for her.

"It's something I was given, none of your business." She replied irritated.

I went into the bedroom I had been using and found something neatly folded on the bed. It was a yukata of all things. I had no doubt on who it was that put it there. As I was putting it on I began to think about something. Why was Kiku Honda being so generous to me? I was just a normal woman that he never met before. Yet he was letting me stay at his home without any objections. He gave me a chance to go on a shopping spree yesterday. Now he was giving me this? Something was up and it seemed wrong somehow. I know I should be grateful for his kindness, but there is something called being too kind. Though what could he be up to? Well I suppose I was going to worry about it later. I have a festival celebration to go to after all.

I met up with Dustin and Natalia it appeared they had been standing in awkward silence since I had been gone. Natalia looked rather uncomfortable in her current state. She didn't have to come, but I guess it was alright.

Later, we had finally made it to the festival grounds. There were stands set up everywhere and it was all so colorful and lively. However I didn't feel like doing too much. I had sort of exhausted myself yesterday and today. So I planned to take it easy this evening.

I felt sort of out of place walking among the grounds. I guess it was because I was a foreigner and it made me feel like I shouldn't be there, like I was intruding. What was I thinking, I shouldn't try to think of things that will make me unhappy.

It seemed Dustin didn't have much energy left in him either. In other words we spent most of the time standing around. After some time past Dustin took my hand it told me to come with him. He told Natalia to stay put. What could be up?

It took awhile but he took me to this fairly isolated spot and we sat down on the grass. I sat rigid and nervous due to the situation.

"Did you enjoy yourself?" He asked me.

"Of course! This is one of the most interesting times I ever had. Thank you by the way." I replied.

"That's good." He said as he smiled.

I felt his hand edge its way slowly onto one of my own. I didn't react besides just getting more rigid. Then a bright flash lit up the night sky. Fireworks exploded vibrant colors among the sky. I had seen fireworks before of course. Though these ones seemed different somehow almost special in a way. I remember when I was younger and I would say the fireworks on the fourth of July were an early birthday present for me. Now here were some fireworks on my actual birthday.

"Hey Elena?" Dustin asked.

"Yeah?" I said a little bit dreamy.

"Do you like me?" He asked.

"Uh huh." I said as I nodded still watching the fireworks.

"Well, how do I say this. Um well, I have always thought you were special since the first time we talked in class and well... Er this is weird but I think you're a really great girl. I think I um well love you." Dustin said nervously he looked away from me his face was turning a tinge of pink.

I didn't know how to react to what he just said. It was all so sudden. I will admit I had been crushing on him for a while, but I had no clue he had any interest in me. He had probably been trying to get me to notice for some time. I'm just so oblivious when it comes down to things like this.

I was about to say something when the next thing I knew was that I was being kissed. I was stunned for a little bit, but the kiss became more passionate and caring. I had never felt this way before. What a wonderful day this has been. He pulled away and whispered, "By the way Happy Birthday."

I gave him a tight hug and he hugged me back.

"Thank you so much, and by the way I think I love you too." I said.

We sat there in an embrace till I heard a familiar voice.

"There you two are I've been looking everywhere for you." Said a rather irritated Natalia.

"Sorry about that." I said apologetically.

Later after I had said goodbye to Dustin, Natalia and I had just arrived back at Kiku's home. As it would appear he still wasn't back. I wonder where he could be? I was too tired to think so I had fallen asleep as soon as I collapsed on the futon mattress.

Something woke me up in the middle of the night. I heard someone talking. I crept out of the room and saw that Kiku was on the phone. Luckily he hadn't noticed me. He seemed to be too enthralled in the conversation he was having. Though what I heard was enough for me to understand what he was talking about with whoever it was.

"Don't worry, she will be gone soon I'll take care of it." He said.

I crept slowly back into my room. I should have known my stay wasn't going to be welcomed much longer. Though what would happen to me anyway.

The next morning I woke up early. I was really tired but I had to do this. I gathered my things and snuck out of the house. I didn't want to wait for whatever had been in store for me. I knew that if I didn't get out of there now. Something bad was going to happen. I walked down the fairly empty street and planned on what I should do now. There was no way I was going to chance what was waiting for me back there. All I could do now was move forward. If I could get out of Japan and get back to America I could pretend this whole thing never happened. That I had never met the personifications of nations. That I had never been captured by some mysterious group and shipped all the way to Australia. I will never forget yesterday however. The rest had to leave me forever and it should be that way.


	7. Chapter 7

I had collapsed onto a bench after I had put a good distance between me and certain misfortunes. Now that I was here I had no clue what I was going to do. I had no computer, no phone, no money, nothing at all but some clothes and souvenirs. How the hell was I going to get myself out of Japan to America? I was stuck and I hated it.

Or maybe I could find Dustin and get him to help me. No, that wouldn't work either. How would I even explain that I couldn't get out of Japan by myself? Also I had no idea where he was staying. For all I know he could have gone back to America with his family already.

I layed back my head on the bench looking up at the sky. What was going to happen to me next? I had so many questions and problems that looked like they could never be solved. I wish I was home and I never came to Belarus all those days ago. No I could have gone and it was okay. What I shouldn't have done was talk to someone I didn't know just because they reminded me of a character from a series I lost interest in long ago. Idiot that's what I was.

I sat for who knows how long, brooding and insulting myself. People passing me by gave me strange looks but I didn't care. Maybe I should go back to the house. I could just say I want to go home and I won't get involved anymore. I'm sure that would work.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps quickly approaching me. A pair of hands grasped my shoulders and I found myself looking up into the stern face of Natalia.

"Do you have any idea how much trouble you're in?" She scolded me before sitting down next to me.

"Huh?" I responded confused.

"Kiku he is looking for you and when he finds you, you are not going to like it." She said coldly.

"What, why?" I said really, really confused now.

"He told me what he really thinks of you Elena. He thinks you are responsible for my kidnapping and the reason the enemy was able to find Ralph's home. He thinks you are working for the enemy. The reason he has been spoiling you all this time was his way to bring your guard down so he could get you to confess and detain you. Now that you left, to him all his suspicions have been confirmed."

This almost was too much to take in. I should have known this had been the case. It really was just coincidence all of it. Though what was he going to think? Of course he was going to put two and two together even though my involvement was just terrible coincidence. He wasn't going to know any better. I had been enjoying myself too much to be concerned I was all but blind to the accusations he was thinking about me. It was just a hunch but I had a sinking feeling that now he thought of me as the enemy it wasn't going to be pretty. Leaving had now dug me into a really bad hole. What was I going to do? This was all too much for I could already feel myself starting to break down.

"Natalia please help me." I said upset. "Please, I have no idea what this means for me, but I'm innocent I swear. You gotta believe me. Or did you come to get me?"

Natalia looked at me with pity and took my hand.

"Don't worry I'll help you and I do believe you. I'm not deceived easily and I do believe that judging by the time I've spent with you that you are a good person." She said.

Her words were comforting and I hugged her with gratitude.

"Thank you for believing me." I said almost crying.

It isn't a great thing to be a wanted criminal for no reason. To have just one person on your side means so much. Natalia helped me up from the bench. My legs were shaking from the shock of the predicament I was now in.

"Put yourself together right now. Be strong." She commanded.

I snapped myself out of it and nodded. Even if the shock was still there she was right and I needed to get myself together or I was doomed.

I had no idea where she was going to take me but I knew that I could trust her. She later explained to me that we would have to get to the west coast. Taking a plane out of Japan didn't sound like a good idea anyway. Most likely Kiku had made sure that the airports were looking for me. So Natalia's plan became obvious. We were going to take a boat to get to another country, take a plane from there and most likely go where she felt more comfortable.

"It's risky, but we are going to have to take a train to get to where we need to be." Natalia said.

"Do you know where the train station is?" I asked.

Natalia nodded so I guess she truly knew her way around here. After a while I couldn't help notice a car was following us. I whispered about it to her. She led me to a less populated section. Why? I don't know but I reckon she was expecting a scene to break out.

We were now away from where a car could go. I hoped that maybe we had lost them. She led me down an alleyway I could just see the station ahead.

"We are almost there." She said.

But at that moment someone jumped down in front of us. They stood in the middle of the alley blocking our path. It was none other than Kiku Honda himself. Had he climbed onto the roof tops or something? I tried to hide behind Natalia but I knew that was silly.

"Natalia I would suggest you do the reasonable thing and hand that girl over." Kiku said softly.

"I will not." She said while glaring at him.

"Don't be irrational, this is for your own good. For the good of all of us." He said as he was edging closer to us.

I felt Natalia squeeze my hand and I knew what that meant. She was signaling to me we were going to make a run for it. I saw her tense up and then we ran. She shoved Kiku to the side and I saw him stumble. I didn't look back but I knew he had recovered quickly. Natalia knew now that we were in the open that he wasn't going to be as aggressive so we slowed down our run to a jog. Luckily for us Kiku had gotten caught up in a large crowd of people.

Natalia took care of the tickets quickly and we got onto the train. It seemed Kiku had disappeared. It looked like we had lost him.

Both of us sat in silence. Natalia seemed to be trying not to talk to me. I knew she was mad and for good reason.

"The trouble you get me in is just unbelievable." She snapped at me.

I ducked my head in shame and glanced out the window.

"Sorry." Was all I could say.

I saw Natalia look up and it seemed she noticed something behind me.

"He's trickier to lose than I thought." She muttered.

"Don't tell me." I said, "He's right behind me isn't he?"

"Not directly but he's there." She said in calm voice.

"What is he some sort of ninja?" I said sarcastically. I knew I should be more serious but humor was the only way I could calm down.

"Something of the sorts." She said.

It looked like we were going to have to try to lose him again. I had underestimated Kiku. It seemed once he set his goals on something he did not give up easily. I could almost feel his gaze on the back of my head so I sunk low in my seat. He was definitely angry quite angry. I find the calmer someone usually is the scarier they are when angered. I definitely did not want to face him directly when I got my chance to try to get away from him. I was very fortunate to have Natalia on my side. Who knows what would have happened to me if she thought of me as an enemy as well.

Hours passed before the train started to slow down. The air was tense as I prepared to bolt. We couldn't go all out or people would notice more. This was going to be difficult.

It had been no use as I later found out. We had tried to shake him but he was just not disarrayed easily. Now we were on a new train and this time he was sitting near the back of the car in front of me. It was even more disconcerting now that I could see him. As I had assumed he was angry all right. I once accidentally made eye contact and for once there was emotion in those blank eyes of his. I also noticed he had been fiddling with a long object wrapped in cloth. How in the world did he get away with bringing it on a train without being questioned or upheld? I kept worrying about it till I had found I was getting tired. Exhaustion from too little sleep and too much activity had finally caught up to me.

"Wake up!" Someone snapped at me.

I was still drowsy and at first didn't register where I was and what was going on. Eventually everything came back to me and I was alert again.

"We're almost there this is no time for sleeping anyway." She scolded me.

"I couldn't help it. Sorry." I grumbled.

"We're in luck right now. It would appear you weren't the only one was tired." She said sounding almost amused.

I looked to the back of the car where Kiku was sitting slumped in his seat. Now that I think about it he was up really late last night and he had been chasing us around. No wonder the man passed out.

"By the way what is in that bundle?" I asked curiously.

"A sword." Natalia whispered bluntly.

"Is he planning on skewering me with that thing." I whispered back.

"Do not worry he won't kill you. Most likely disable you but not kill you." She said.

How dangerous did Kiku think I was? I had no experience when it came to fighting. I will admit I know how to use a gun, but I only ever used one for target practice. I never fought and hand to hand fighting was out of the question.

Knowing how angry he most likely was from chasing me, he was definitely going to attack once he got the chance to. Though there was one question that was bugging me.

"Natalia why does he have a sword, wouldn't a gun or a knife be easier." I whispered to her.

She looked appalled that I would ask such a question in the situation I was in.

"He is a little old fashioned." She said.

After that we sat in silence waiting for the train to reach its destination. I kept glancing at Kiku just to make sure he was still asleep. He stirred a few times but other than that he stayed unconscious.

At last the train stopped, we hurriedly got off before Kiku became alert again. As we got off I saw him sit upright looking dazed. We covered a good distance from the train station and got into town.

It was getting late so it didn't look like we were going to try to get out of Japan today. I don't think I could make it anymore. Natalia seemed to have noticed how exhausted I was so she checked us into a hotel. It was cheap room but at least I had a bed to sleep on. I settled in and was out like a light in a matter of minutes.

Like the night before someone talking woke me up.

"If you get this message please don't worry about me. I'm alright and you know perfectly well I can take care of myself. No matter what they tell you don't get angry everything is fine. I love you." She said softly. I heard her sigh in disappointment. I bet she really wanted to talk to whoever it was she called. It didn't worry me too much for I drifted off again.

The next morning I woke up to the sounds of angry voices and Natalia trying to keep the door closed as it shook on its hinges. A sword stabbed through the door making Natalia back away from the door. Standing in the door frame was my pursuer. I couldn't believe it! How did he keep finding us?!


	8. Chapter 8

Kiku stood in the doorway with an aura of complete rage. I freaked of course and got myself to the farthest end of the room that I could manage. Natalia was doing her best to keep him from charging at me. I was terrified of this man and I didn't want him to come anywhere close to me at all. We had to get out of there, but he had us cornered.  
An idea suddenly sprang to mind. I pulled the bed sheets off of the bed and ran straight at him. Yes, it was a very reckless thing to do. Kiku didn't seem to expect this kind of retaliation from me at all, he was caught off guard. Natalia quickly stepped out of the way and Kiku soon found himself tangled up in sheets. Natalia made sure that he was not going to get lose any time soon.  
"I'm truly sorry about this Kiku." Natalia said.  
Kiku did not answer; instead he was struggling underneath the sheet and rambling on in Japanese. Whatever he was saying it wasn't pleasant.  
I did my best to gather our things as fast as possible; fortunately we never opened up anything the night before. Natalia kept pestering me to hurry up. Despite my fumbling everything was in order. We dashed right out of the hotel building.  
Once again Kiku had disappeared from sight. It was certain now that it was a fact he would not do anything rash in public. We stayed in crowded places to avoid him at all costs. I wondered where he could be hiding anyway. Wherever he was there was no doubt he was nearby. I looked around nervously while Natalia kept on walking with her usual demeanor.  
The plan seemed simple enough earlier. We would get on a boat and get to South Korea across the Sea of Japan. Once there we could fly back to Belarus and Natalia could fix up problems there.  
Now with someone pursuing us closely things were much more difficult. Natalia seemed to know what she was doing so I followed her closely as she weaved her way through the crowd.

Walking, that is what I had been doing for hours. I could only pray that we were almost where we needed to be. Then I heard Natalia say something. About time.  
"We are about there but I need you to stay put and hide." Natalia ordered.  
"Why do I have to hide?" I asked.  
"Just do it, or else." She said annoyed.  
I did what she told me and stayed hidden. I was suspicious but I had trusted her this long. The hiding place I had chosen was between a couple of boxes in an alleyway.  
Time passed and so far no Kiku. I chose well apparently. I smiled that I finally did something right in a while. That is when I heard soft footsteps nearby. I peeked out slightly to see who it was. Kiku stood in the open looking around. He kept pacing steadily for some odd reason. I shrank back and froze to not give myself away.  
Frequently I kept hearing him talk to himself in Japanese. It sounded like he was complaining telling by the tone.  
'Natalia please come back soon.' I thought to myself worriedly.  
Suddenly, I heard Kiku say something as if he was surprised. Soon the sounds of a group of people could be heard. I peeked out slightly and saw a sight I really did not want to see at all.  
Kiku had been surrounded by a group of very familiar looking men. 'Oh no!' I thought in alarm. Kiku was standing in a defensive stance, his sword grasped tightly in his hands.  
'Damnit Kiku don't fight them, run.' I kept directing thoughts with no effect of course. This was not good at all, I had to do something. At least I kept telling myself that, but I could not bring myself to help him. All I could do was watch what would happen. I felt so useless.  
I could see they were talking, but I could not hear them they were too far away now. Then I saw one of the men collapse as Kiku slashed him with his sword. Kiku ran closer to my hiding spot he stopped right at the entrance to the alley. He seemed prepared to fight the rest of the men at a moment's notice.  
"So this is you?" I heard someone say.  
I saw a man that I definitely remembered. How could I forget him, even if I could not see what he actually looked like, he was the one who was responsible for all this, I just knew it.  
He was approaching Kiku while holding up a picture. I could not see what exactly the picture had in it but I could tell it was in black and white, and I knew who most likely was in the photo.  
"Where did you get that?!" Kiku asked in alarm.  
"We have our sources." The man said as he snickered then continued on,"Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Your choice."  
Kiku cut down the nearest person to him and charged towards the man. The man stood calmly not even showing a hint of fear. Kiku was stopped in his tracks by something hitting him in the side. He tried to recover, but they were quicker. He was struggling to get free from them, it was proving futile.  
The man approached Kiku and knelt down beside him.  
"What an excellent addition to our little collection, the nation of Japan." The man said with a cold tone.  
"Kisama!" Kiku cursed at him.  
Kiku soon fell unconscious from a tranquilizer and they took him away out of my sight.  
That horrible man, how could he do this? I noticed he was closer and I got a better look at him. The most noticeable feature was his icy grey eyes. Grey hair stuck out in a ponytail from beneath a brimmed hat, he appeared to be middle aged. His very atmosphere reeked of evil.  
I was frozen in place from his close proximity, till he finally walked off out of sight. Once I knew I was safe I let out my frustrations. I was pissed off, really pissed off. I was mad at myself mostly, maybe I could have done something, anything to save Kiku. Then I was mad at that man for what he was doing to the nations.  
I curled up into a ball thinking about what I could have done but did not. Then I felt a hand touch my shoulder. I looked up to see Natalia's concerned face.  
"Is something wrong?" Natalia said.  
I shook my head in denial and looked away from her in shame.  
"What happened? Tell me this instant." She demanded.  
"I can't do anything good, that's what!" I snapped at her.  
Then she asked the same question, but softer, "Please, tell me what happened?"  
"They got Kiku Honda, and I couldn't do anything even though I was right here." I said as I started to cry. I heard Natalia give a heavy sigh and then I felt her embrace me reassuringly.  
"It's not your fault; there wasn't anything you could have done." Natalia said gently.  
"Now pull yourself together Elena, this is no time to break down." She said as she stood up and pulled me to my feet. She gestured for me to follow her, so I did.  
"There has been a change of plans. The first part has not changed, but once we get to South Korea we will not be going to my homeland." Natalia told me as we walked.  
"Then where are we going?" I asked.  
"Australia, we are going to Australia again." She said.  
"But why?" I questioned.  
"Why do you think? We can't just let them get away with what they have done, and let them roam around doing as they please. So we are going to make sure they are stopped." Natalia said with confidence.  
"That's crazy! Your only one nation there is no way you could do that!"  
"I'm not alone however, and I believe you may be more helpful than you make yourself out to be. Do as I say and we will succeed. I may be one nation, but as you should know when you have lived as long as I have, you learn a few strategies."  
Could we both succeed? Could I a normal women help a nation? It was worth a shot wasn't it? She was right I had to get away from pitying all the time and be strong. This could be the one time in my life I could do something incredible. In America, at the end of its national anthem it says "the land of the free, and the home of the brave". America was the nation I was born in, and maybe there was a truth to the end of the national anthem. Yeah, I was going to do this and no amount of doubt was going to stop me anymore.  
Natalia led me to the boat we would be taking. It was a rather shabby looking thing. I gave her a look of "are you kidding me?".  
"I know, I know, but I don't have much money on me, it was the best I could do." Natalia said with an annoyed tone.  
I got onto the old boat hesitantly. The owner of the boat was an elderly man who seemed awfully pleased to have Natalia and I. I did my best to be as unnoticeable as possible.  
As soon as the boat got away from the harbor, I was already beginning to feel queasy from its constant rocking. I spent the beginning of the voyage slumped over the railing sure that I would be sick any moment. Luckily, I had not eaten anything in for what seemed like ages. So now I was both seasick and hungry. This was definitely going to be a miserable time. Natalia left me be as I wallowed in misery. I did not want to talk anyway.

At long last, the boat had reached our destination. I wobbled off of it and was still unsteady when I walked onto the dock.  
"I hate boats." I mumbled as I tried to get back my balance. Natalia strode past me and gestured for me to hurry up. I followed unsteadily, my legs were still shaking and it was as if I could still feel the movements of the boat.  
"Now first things first, I need to exchange the money I have left. Then I'm sure you must be hungry so let's take care of that." Natalia said.  
It took a while for her to get everything done. When I finally got some food I ate it like some sort of starving animal. Natalia shook her head in disbelief as she watched me.  
"I have to find somewhere where I can get plane tickets." Natalia said.  
"Okay." I responded.

Later that night we had found yet another place to stay for the time being. We were leaving first thing tomorrow morning. I was nervous, but the longer we waited the worst the outcome could be. I took the time to freshen up for more strain that was bound to come our way. I also wanted to asked Natalia some questions that had been bothering me.  
"Natalia, why did we go to Japan?" I asked, I remembered having asked a similar question before.  
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you then. I had been contacting other nations while we were in Australia. Kiku in particular seemed to have taken a strange interest and told me he wanted to see us. I suppose that was when he first became suspecting of you." Natalia explained to me and it cleared up a few things I suppose. There was something else bothering me though, one thing that had been nagging at me lately. How did they know where we had been all those times? We had done nothing to have a way for them to track us so immediately. What was it though? I glanced down at the notebook that I had carried with me this whole time. A pang of realization struck me. This had been the only one of my belongings they left with me in the first place. I pried at the notebook and I found something embedded in the cover. It was some sort of device. So this is how they did it? It was all my fault after all. I threw down the device and smashed it with a chair. It had all been my fault and I had never known it.


	9. Chapter 9

The flight back to Australia had no complications at all. Though Natalia kept on bothering me by constantly asking what was wrong. I always denied I was perfectly fine. Ever since I found the tracking device in the cover of my notebook I had strong feelings of guilt. I could only see the notebook now as a friend who seemed to have betrayed me. I had always used it to write things down that were important, and as of recent as a journal of sorts. Instead of its usual place in my shirt pocket, it was tucked away deep within a suitcase.

No matter how much I denied it, Natalia knew there was something bothering me. How could I tell her that I unwittingly led that group to any nation I came in contact with? Well at least Ralph may have gotten away, but the loss of Kiku was painful.

Ever since we arrived in Sydney, Natalia had been writing things down. I could not read a bit of it however and left her to it. I had a hunch that it was strategies. It was like she was planning for a small war or something along those lines. At the same time she had been using the phone often. I felt the need to not listen into her conversations and resigned myself to watch the television that was in the room we were currently staying at. I kept watching the news seeing if anything that had happened had been reported in any way. Nothing came up; it was best to assume that this was all being covered up. Besides no one would believe that the nations had a form in the shape of a person. My resolve I had found briefly before was gone. It looked like Natalia was going to have to not rely on me. It was better that way; there was nothing I could contribute to anyway.

One evening Natalia tried to talk to me about how her planning was going.

"The other nations are not cooperating." Natalia said with frustration.

"Why? Shouldn't something like this be important to them?" I asked confused.

"Some are unsure about what they can do. The others are ignoring my ideas and are claiming they can do it their own way." Natalia explained.

She took a deep breath and continued on about another issue.

"Not only that, but there have been more nations disappearing. Those damn bastards are getting away with this and no one is taking immediate action." Natalia said angrily.

I said nothing and looked down at my feet. I could feel Natalia's gaze burning into me. I did my best to ignore it.

"Tell me Elena. You have been acting strange since we left South Korea. Is there something you wish to say?" Natalia said. She had been saying this same thing over and over.

"You know, I put my trust in you and even went against a fellow nation to save you. The least you could do is answer a simple question." Natalia said insistently.

She had finally struck a chord with me. She had really stuck her neck out for me, and here I was being useless and hiding things.

"Natalia, I am... I'm sorry." I began. I took a deep breath and continued, "There is something I need to tell you. It's about my notebook."

Natalia's expression was not phased; she looked intensely at me waiting for me to continue on with my explanations. I did not want to, but there was no hiding my faults with her any longer.

"The notebook it had a tracking device sealed in the cover. I found it recently." I said then tears began to flow, "I'm so sorry Natalia, this is all my fault. All that has happened recently is my fault."

I expected Natalia to get angry with me and yell. Instead she shook her head in disbelief, walked over and put her hand on my back.

"It's not your fault, there was no way you could have known." Natalia said gently.

Natalia then wrapped her arms around me in a comforting embrace. I continued to cry, the tears of guilt would not stop.

"Stop crying, it won't solve anything. So pull yourself together and just accept that things beyond our control happen." Natalia said.

I was such a pain wasn't I? Here I was putting myself into an emotional downslide over any misfortune that happened. Natalia had lived far longer than I, it was certain that she had been through a lot worst. At the moment I was one of the very few that Natalia could rely on for help. I remembered what I had told myself a couple of days ago. This could be my chance to make something of myself, and I was on the path to making that opportunity disappear.

I wiped away the tears from my eyes and looked Natalia in the face.

"I'm sorry, I'm just being silly aren't I?" I questioned.

"Good, you're feeling better now." Natalia said happily.

She stood up and went to a window that overlooked the city of Sydney. Her back was turned so I could not see her expression.

"It would be a shame if something happened to this city, and all the rest." Natalia said, "I've seen whole city's destroyed before. It's not pleasant. They may rebuild, but they never fully recover. The best they do is move on towards the future."

"Um excuse me, but what are you going on about?" I asked curiously.

I was confused about why she was talking about cities, when it did not seem very relevant. What could she be getting at?

"What do you think would happen if those builders vanished?" Natalia asked.

"Well, I guess the city would be destroyed till they came back." I replied. Seriously, what was she talking about?

"Another thing to add. What happens when someone is in charge of those builders?" Natalia continued. She was making absolutely zero sense, so I stopped trying to figure it out.

"I'm going to be honest. What are you talking about?"

"A metaphoric theory as to why that group is doing what it is doing."

"Oh, but then what does your metaphor mean?"

"The city is the nation as in the actual land itself, the builders are the embodiment of the spirits of the people."

"I think I get it now."

"Good. I was concerned you were a little dense."

"Hey!"

I was certainly annoyed with that last statement of hers. Her theory seemed reasonable, but what would they gain from controlling all these nations? What were they trying to change? What would they gain? SO many damn questions ran through my head, and it all came to a light but heavy conclusion. So much damage could be caused with the power that they were after. It was obvious we were going to have to put on some sort of rescue and sabotage mission and soon. Natalia started talking to me again interrupting my thought process.

"We are going to carry out my little plan tomorrow evening." Natalia said.

"Tomorrow?! But we should do something sooner if they are planning what I think they are!" I exclaimed.

"No, we have to relax a bit more. We need all the energy that we can get, it's crucial." Natalia said.

Natalia then told me she was going to leave for a while. I protested about her going out alone, but she insisted she would be fine. I hesitantly let her go.

I busied myself and wondered around the hotel room. Like the ones we had been staying at it was a bit run down. I noticed the bright flowered wallpaper looked damaged in some areas, and the room did smell a little musty. I sat on the white-blanketed bed and switched on the television across from it. As I had been doing earlier I was watching the news. Now something truly concerning was beginning to appear. Political issues were springing up in certain nations. Riots and disorder were breaking out in such a short span of time. Politicians and other representatives from different countries who still had themselves together were doing their best to try to control the situations. I had seen events like this appear on the news before, but not to this degree.

Though there was one similar thing I kept hearing. It almost appeared as if these nations were losing themselves as if something important to them that held themselves together had gone missing.

As soon as Natalia was going to be back I would have to let her know. Something however was not making sense. Weren't the personifications of said nations still around? Then why was this happening? No there was something happening to them that were causing this and it was bad.

At last Natalia had returned after some time had past. She was carrying a large bag with her.

"What's in there?" I asked.

"Guns and such. Have you ever handled a gun before Elena?" Natalia said.

"Why yeah I have, but I've only ever used one on unmoving targets for the fun of it." I replied.

"Well, if worst comes to worst you may have to use them on an enemy." Natalia said then continued, "Do you think you could manage that?"

The thought of harming a person like that bothered me, but it may look like there may be a chance I would have to. I nodded stiffly. Natalia then set the bag down on the rickety wooden table by the door. Then I remembered the information I had to tell her.

"Natalia there is something you should know. I've been watching the news and it is'nt good." I started.

Natalia looked at me sternly and seemed like she was waiting for me to continue with what I had to say. I told her everything that I had seen on the television. She listened silently, her face turning ever more solemn. When I finished what I had to say. Natalia sat down slowly on a chair and rested her head on one hand.

"It would seem my theory was correct after all. Though as dire as things are, the time I am planning to strike still remains." Natalia said blankly.

"But did you not hear what I just told you?!" I exclaimed.

"I did, but even if we did strike now it would ruin things. I know how terrible these events are and the serious damage they are causing. You have to think things like this carefully and slowly if you have the chance to. That is how some battles work at times." Natalia explained.

I held my tongue from saying anything else in protest. Natalia had experience with this sort of thing anyway; I should let her do things the way she did them.

"Now then. I believe it is time we discussed just what it is we have to do tomorrow." Natalia said. She motioned over to me to get closer. I obeyed and waited patiently.

"I shall begin then." Natalia started.

I spent the time listening carefully to what it was we were going to do. As I had feared it was not going to be easy for me. I had to do this however. No matter what the cost, I had to. There had to be no more emotional breakdowns on my behalf. I had to be sure that I was going to be fully together for this. After all the state of the world depended on our success.

* * *

**Hello this is the first time I have said anything on my stories on this site. Well to those who have been reading this story thus far, I thank you for taking your time to read it. Anyway this will be going up to fifteen chapters. Anyway, I know this particular chapter had a lot of talking in it, but this will have a lot of stuff happening in the next few chapters. This is what I like to call a 'resting chapter'. Well anyway I hope you are enjoying the story, and I would appreciate reviews.**

**See you in chapter 10.**


	10. Chapter 10

The scenery of the Australian bush lands passed by the car window. One arm lay against the window with my head resting on my hand. My only hope at the moment was that Natalia knew where she was going. So far the car trip had been relatively silent, but there was tension in the air. What we were about to do was risky, but if we did not try at least then most likely the world would change for the worse. Out of nowhere I felt the car jerk right off the road and into the trees that towered above it. Eventually the car came to a standstill.

"We shall stop here, the rest of the way we shall walk." Natalia said as she got out of the car. I too got out and I heard the crunch of a twig snap beneath my foot. Walking was the best way to not be spotted once we arrived at our true destination. After about an hour had passed I saw the gate rise up ahead of us. We were here. I could feel butterflies; I was going to have to go in there. Natalia approached the gate wielding a pair of strong wire cutters that she had brought with her. As she cut away the wiring of the gate I clutched the sheathed revolver. I could feel the anxiety creeping up on me. I took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm myself down. Natalia crawled through the hole she had created and waited for me to follow suit. Hesitantly taking a shaky step forward I knelt down and pulled myself through.

"Let's go." Natalia whispered. We scouted out the perimeter, spotting a few guards every once in awhile. Getting into the actual facility was not going to be easy. Over the entrances I saw three words on a plaque above them, "New World Order". Is that what they were calling themselves? Most likely that was the case. Natalia appeared to be calculating any possible entrances. The only thing on our persons was a couple of guns and a few tools. The last thing we needed was to use the guns at the time being. Noise from them would just attract trouble. At long last Natalia found an ideal place to sneak into. All it took was distracting the guard in front of it. We quietly slipped as the guard went to investigate our little distraction we had set up. Cautiously we made our way down a series of stairs. My heartbeat had increased and the butterflies were even worse. Soon we found ourselves in a hallway that looked similar to the one we had been in when we first escaped this place. However the doors looked much more secure than the one we had been contained in. Some had a green light above them; those were the ones that were unlocked. Till eventually we came across a door with a red light above it. This one was locked. I spotted a small observation window on it and I peered through it. Within a figure was slouched against the wall.

"There is someone here." I whispered to Natalia. She looked into where I was looking and then proceeded to examine the lock on the door.

"It looks like it unlocks with a key card. This will not be easy to get open." Natalia said. Looking back through the tiny window I attempted to make out who this person was. Foolishly I knocked on the window to see if I could get their attention.

"Idiot. What do you think you're doing?!" Natalia snapped at me. Mumbling an apology I watched the figure that had moved. Whoever it was. They were definitely a man. Then I noticed the short black hair cut in a very familiar style. Kiku Honda, that's who this was.

"Natalia, it's Kiku. Kiku is in there." I told Natalia.

"I can't believe we found him so quickly!" Natalia said in surprise. Natalia took out a screwdriver and began taking out the screws. I cautiously observed our surroundings to make sure no one was coming. Minutes passed and the lock came loose. Natalia opened the door slowly to prevent the lock from falling to the ground.

"Kiku?" I said forgetting to address him correctly. Kiku did not respond, but he did glance at me. Now that the light from the hallway could come into the room I could see him more clearly. Kiku may of had a face that betrayed no expression, but now it seemed like there was no life in that blank face of his. Even his eyes had become duller than they usually were. What the hell did they do to him? It did not feel right to touch him but I did so anyway. My hand clasped his shoulder. He did not even react in the slightest. All he did was continue staring at nothing. It was terrible to see him this way. Natalia looked angry as she observed Kiku's condition.

"It's as if they drained away his very being." Natalia said angrily. "We need to get him out of here. Now!"

"But what about the other nations, I'm sure there are more." I told her.

"If we find more I shall see what I can do, but remember this is a sabotage mission." Natalia said.

We hoisted Kiku upright between us, he remained listless causing his full weight to weigh us down. Moving into the hall Natalia indicated she would be leaving me by myself. I tried to protest to this, but she would not listen and left. I could only hope she would be all right. Doing my best to hold Kiku up I trudged down the hall. Perhaps I should have stayed put.

"Hey you, stop!" A man's voice yelled at me. Freezing I turned to see one of the many guards down a corridor I had just passed. Alarms rose up soon after and I attempted to get away and hide. Attempting to hide had been futile. I was caught. A group of guards took Kiku away and apprehended me, seizing my arms tightly. I felt myself go stiff from fear. What were they going to do with me? They led me to a room where a familiar man was waiting.

"Sir, we found one of the intruders." The guard to the left of me said.

"Good." The man I despised said coldly. I watched him as he got up and approached me. His grey eyes bore into mine. I tore my gaze away and did my best not to look at him.

"Lock her away for now, I'll speak to her when I have the time." The steely-eyed man said. The two guards roughly led me away. Almost tripping I felt the revolver in my left boot dig into the side of my leg. I winced a little bit. The guards jerked me upright and led me to a white room with only a metal chair inside. They shoved me in there and I heard the door latch close behind me. Damnit! What was going to happen to me now? Most likely they could kill me if they felt like it. I kicked the chair in frustration causing a sharp pain in my toe. Clutching my foot I crouched on the ground and waited for the pain to go away. This was happening to me because I did not stay put. I was so reckless to decide to wander around. What would Natalia say? She was most likely going to scold me big time. That is if I did not end up dead. Sitting all by myself in solitude gave me some thinking time, despite my situation. In that solitude I began devising alternatives of my fate, or ways I could possibly escape from the NWO. Eventually I ran out of things to reflect on and became increasingly bored and irritated. At this point I found I just did not care any longer. After all the events that had happened to me, this was just another one to add to the list. If they were going to kill me, fine then. My death would not matter anyway. I started tapping on the boot that hid the tiny revolver. If someone came in here I could just shoot them and run for it. Could I do that? Time was up now.

The door opened and in stepped that icy man. I wish I had a name to go with this man. That way I could curse it. It seemed as if anger and irritation had replaced my fear and anxiety. I sat up straight and looked straight at him.

"I believe it's time we got to know each other, Elena." He said with a sly grin, "No need to tell me who you are, I know that perfectly well. Though I have never gotten the chance to tell you who I am."

I continued glaring at him, hoping he would just get on with it.

"You may call me Seward Martin." Seward said. Oh good, now I knew his name at least. "Perhaps we could come to some sort of negotiation?"

"Like what?"

"You could simply make this easier on yourself and aid us with our cause."

"And that would be?"

"How would it sound if there was no strife in this world? What if we could take away all those differences that make humans hate each other so?"

They could not do that! If he was talking about what I think he was. It would mean they were planning to somehow take everything away that made people who they were. Every nations' individual culture would be gone.

"So what do you say to my proposal?" Seward said. Only one response came to mind.

"Fuck you." I cursed.

"What foul language, but I suppose I shall take that as a no." Seward shook his head. "Pity, you're just like your Grandfather."

My Grandfather? What did he mean?  
"You see, the New World Order was established during World War II. Just like yourself, your Grandfather did not see eye to eye with my father. I suppose it runs in the family." Seward said, making himself appear as if he was lost in memories.

"It took us quite some time before we were able to rebuild to the point we are at today. I do believe it is obvious we have accomplished much more than in my father's time." Seward continued a cold smile on his demeanor.

"Why are you telling me all this? Why don't you just knock me off?" I asked as bravely as I could sound. Seward laughed darkly.

"If we wanted to do that, we would have done it the first time we met." Seward said, his smile widening.

"Then why didn't you?" I demanded, his smile was beginning to arise that fear I had felt earlier.

"I made the decision that perhaps you could be of some use to us. Useful you have been." Seward said his entire expression was mocking. He got closer to me and I tried to edge back, but I felt the chair clank against the wall behind me.

"I let you escape. You did not honestly think our security would be that lax did you? My older brother may truly be in control of this entire operation, or so he thinks he is in charge, but how wrong he is." Seward said sounding amused.

"Thanks to you, we have been able to find more of those unique individuals. How lucky we were when we happened by chance on some very special files about Belarus. All because you were there when we carried out that particular operation, we were able to advance considerably so. Shame I was not able to meet the face of my own homeland. It would have been an honor to meet Australia himself. But in time I'm sure I will get that chance."

As he continued to speak I felt tense, from both fear and anger. He was treating all this as if it was so easy. Eventually he turned to leave.

"I'll return later. Stay put." Seward said. The door closed behind him. I felt all the tension leave and I relaxed now that his presence was gone. There was definitely something wrong with the way this guy thought.

Then I heard the explosions. Something about them told me that Natalia had succeeded in her mission. Now if only she could take the time to get me out of here. As if obliging, I heard the lock on the door beep and it opened to none other than Natalia herself in the doorway.

"You are definitely an idiot, a bigger idiot than I thought possible!" Natalia yelled at me. "Now let's go!"

I followed her and we made a dash for it to escape the building.

"What did you do?!" I said over new sounds of explosions.

"I sabotaged them, what else?" Natalia stated. Clearly we had failed in the rescue part of our plan.

We barely managed to get away from personal that had spotted us, but soon we found ourselves back at the car we had arrived in.

Natalia put the car into overtime as she roughly drove it back onto the road and back to Sydney. I had a lot to tell her once I got the chance.

* * *

**Hello and thank you for reading chapter 10. Now there are only five chapters left in this story and I will begin to wrap up shortly. I hope this chapter was able to answer a few questions that may have arose.**

**See ya, next chapter.**


	11. Chapter 11

Natalia and I never made it back to Sydney.

A cell phone that Natalia had gotten recently without my notice went off. She pulled over and answered the cell.

"Yes?" She said with irritation.

Whatever they said to her made her glance at me and she got out of the car. I could not make out what she was saying even though I tried to without her noticing it. She was speaking in too low of a tone.

After a few minutes passed she made her way back into the car and looked at me with an expressionless face.

"We're going back." She said.

"What?!" I exclaimed.

"Shut up and deal with it."

In a similar manner as our earlier retreat she spun the car around with a jerk. Dust flew everywhere and the tires squealed as they made traction once again with the concrete road.

As before we were speeding down the road. Natalia gave me no explanation to why we were attempting yet another suicide mission. In fact she did not speak to me at all.

I was surprised to find that we did not go to the area we had stopped at earlier, but instead found us stopped at another secluded spot some distance away from the facility itself. Then we waited.

What we were waiting for I did not know. Natalia was still keeping her mouth shut. I imagine she was still bitter at me for screwing up earlier. I don't blame her; I will admit I should not have been so rash. My rashness could have cost us greatly.

At last the waiting had come to an end signaled by the loud whir of helicopter blades.

A large black helicopter landed in front of us. The windows were of course tinted so I could not see who was inside but soon I got my answer.

A rather tall man with blond hair made his way out of the helicopter as its blades began to slow down.

He wore a white t-shirt and blue jeans and shades covered his eyes but the one thing that made me recognize who he was, was the cowlick sticking up from his hair.

The man I was looking at was America, or should I say Alfred.

Natalia got out of the car and greeted him. However it was a rather stiff greeting on her part.

Following suit I got out to see him as well, a bit cautious about the matter. I had already been persecuted by another nation not too long ago. I was not sure how he was going to react to me.

As I approached him he took off the shades to reveal blue eyes, and replaced the shades with a pair of half-moon specs.

"Yo dude, so you must be the chick everyone's been talking about." He said with more vocal volume than was necessary.

His cheerfulness made me taken aback for a moment.

"I suppose that would be me I guess." I muttered.

"Awesome! I've been wanting to meet you for a while, but I just haven't had the time." Alfred said in his loud voice, and then he laughed just as loud.

What did he mean by he didn't have the time? What could he had possibly been doing while Natalia and I had been going through so much trouble? I'm pretty sure by now that what we had been through had reached the knowledge of the other nations. And so I had come to deem Alfred as the exact definition of a moron.

"Enough!" Natalia yelled at Alfred's nonstop laughter as she finally snapped, "Either you be serious or go home!"

Even though he kind of deserved a bit of a scolding for acting so carefree in such a situation. Natalia was being a bit harsh.

The big grin that Alfred had went away and his entire composure calmed down.

"Sorry, I got a bit excited is all." Alfred apologized. He was much quieter now.

I did not think it was possible. Then again who was I to judge what he was actually like by going off a fictional version of him?

"So Natalia you called me here. How can the hero be of assistance?" Alfred asked.

"Are the others coming?"

"Not till later, but I suppose a head start into the action wouldn't hurt anyone."

I saw a gleam in his eye appear as he said that.

"You are not thinking of going headfirst into such a situation Alfred?" Natalia interrogated.

Alfred's grin had reappeared.

"Dude, we will be fine. I'd like to see these maniacs bring me down. How I'd love to see them try"

And I had thought I had been rash earlier. I finally spoke up.

"Why aren't you using some sort of special force or something? Like an army division. Don't you think you guys alone is a bit risky?"

Natalia glanced at me with a look I imagine meant I should know the answer.

"Most of those 'special forces' do not know people such as us exist. It would be strange for our governments to enlist such help for those they do not know about." Natalia explained.

"Still, using yourselves to do the fighting is insane. You are the ones they are after and to have you show up on their front doorstep is unthinkable." I said.

"She's got a point." Alfred said, agreeing with me. But despite him being more on my side it soon became apparent what I said did not matter all that much.

In a hurry Alfred got himself into the front passenger side of the car and looked impatiently at us.

"Come on! Just show me where the bad guys are, and the hero will take good care of them!" Alfred exclaimed with pride.

I heard Natalia sigh. I hoped that maybe Alfred was not being all talk.


	12. Chapter 12

I knew this was a bad idea and oh how I wanted to leave, but it would appear that was not going to happen any time soon. The facility gates were in view which meant there was no turning back. Still I had a really bad feeling.

The gates were a long way off and steadily getting closer as the poor abused car sped towards them. The intent was to break through them. What would happen next was entirely up to Alfred, the moron.

At last the speeding car had come upon the gates and with a screech of metal the gates crashed down. There was a harsh bump as the car drove over them.

The guards on duty looked baffled at what had just occurred but their lack of composure did not last for long. Soon they were sprung into action, guns aimed high.

Alfred remained calm as they approached. When they got close enough he yelled out a signal for Natalia and I to jump out of the car. I had clumsily fumbled with the door handle due to my shaking hands. It could have cost us if I had not actually managed to get the door open. I stumbled flat on the ground and lay there. I heard the groan of the car and a loud crash accompanied by the sounds of yells.

"Stop overdoing it you idiot!" I heard Natalia yell.

"Well how else do you expect me to do this?!" Alfred retorted.

A hand yanked me upright and I was led to the facility doors.

"We're going to find the others." Natalia explained.

It truly did seem surreal that we had ended up infiltrating through the front doors. I wished that Natalia and Alfred had left me behind. Then again perhaps I was being a bit of a coward, and that was something that did not appeal to me. I had promised that I would not falter anymore. I was going to need to keep a clear state of mind during all this, somehow.

No one was there as we entered the building we had so recently escaped from earlier. Assuming that maybe most of the personal was outside dealing with the distraction that Alfred had created, we pressed on without a confrontation.

Alfred's show out front must have distracted all those occupying the facility. I knew that it would not last forever. Whatever Natalia had come in here to do, we had to do it as fast as possible.

Coming in from the front entryway seemed like a longer way to go than when we had first come here. All the halls looked similar. They were painted white with no décor but a few numbers to mark segments of the doors or halls. I could not help but wonder how did Natalia even know where to go in this maze. Maybe she scouted it a bit when we were here earlier. That seemed like a tactical way that she would do in order to be prepared.

After several many sharp turns down unfamiliar halls we came across what I came to think was the containment section.

It became apparent that they moved Kiku from where he was before. Why she looking for him? I knew that there had to be other nations down here. Did they really need Kiku that much? Knowing her it was best not to question it. After all she had probably strategized a while ago what we were all going to do. It took longer than we liked to find just where to find the man we were looking for. He was not too far from where he was earlier. Instead of attempting to unlock the door like last time Natalia instead kicked it down. The door made a loud metallic bang making me cringe. Kiku was in the same sorry state he had been in before.

This time Natalia picked him up and slung his limp body over her shoulder. As we began to move him I noticed that the noise coming from the commotion that Alfred was causing was getting louder. I hoped that whatever Alfred was doing up there, he was winning. Or maybe the increase in noise was something else? Whatever was causing it I had to wish it was a something good for us that is.

After searching for a while Natalia without warning forced me into a dark room that had the appearance of not being used for a while. The light switch was broken and the various items in it were covered in dust.

She then threw Kiku onto me, putting him into my care; I had thought she needed him.

"Stay here, and don't move. We will come for you when we are finished with our business here." Natalia ordered me.

"But what about Kiku or the other nations trapped here?" I asked.

"There is nothing we can do for them right now. I don't have the time to reverse what they have done to them. Though maybe while you're here you can try to get Kiku out of whatever they have done to him." Natalia replied.

With that she turned to leave and as soon as the door closed I was enveloped in darkness with only an unresponsive man as company.

Now I was left to wonder if that their makeshift plan would succeed and rescue the other nations imprisoned in this building.

Time passed and the noises never lost volume. I had no idea what they were doing up there but perhaps on some slim chance Natalia and Alfred were winning.

I spent my time poking Kiku and making mocking comments towards him. What can I say? I was bored and after what he had put me through in Japan I could say I was not too fond of him as I had been when I first met him.

Just as I had decided to begin messing up his short black hair the door to the room opened. I froze, paranoid of being discovered.

"Hey, you in here?" A familiar voice whispered. It was Alfred.

"I'm here." I responded.

Alfred stumbled towards me over the many items scattered on the floor.

When he caught sight of me his eyes glanced over to Kiku. He got closer and knelt down beside him. I was curious about what he was going to do. Then he began mimicking a similar action I had done earlier. Alfred began to poke him.

"Hey Kiku, Earth to Kiku." He said.

Noting the poking being ineffective, he began to shake him by the shoulders. Kiku's head rolled back and forth, but as expected he did not respond.

"Wake up!" He yelled.

Then he began to laugh as if this was all so very entertaining to him.

"Looks like old age has finally gotten to you dude!" he said with amusement. Yep, I could tell that he was having fun with all this.

Alfred frowned as he stared at the unresponsive man. Then his face lit up as he got an idea.

"See that chair over there. Prop him up on it." He ordered.

"Uh, okay." I responded and dragged Kiku on to it. The metal legs of the chair made a skidding noise as I slid Kiku onto the seat.

"Alright stand back." Alfred said that big grin on his face once again.

The next thing I heard was a loud "THWACK!" and the chair clanged over. The thud of a body hitting the tiles of the floor came next.

"Itai!" came a yell of pain.

Kiku had landed a few feet away. He sat upright rubbing the left side of his face, which was already beginning to redden.

Alfred was laughing non-stop at Kiku's expense. I had to refrain from reacting, though watching him go flying like that brought some satisfaction to me.

"Good morning dude!" Alfred said sarcastically.

Kiku looked around still in a bit of a daze and registering his surroundings. His eyes locked on mine and I saw a spark of anger flash behind them.

"What is she doing here?" He asked. He may have sounded calm but there was just a hint of a growl behind those words.

"Helping of course, though she isn't very helpful. Uh, no offense Elena." Alfred said.

Kiku nodded but he still kept an eye on me as if I would do something. I'm not sure what he was expecting for me to pull off.

"Quick come with me, we need your help upstairs Kiku." America said.

"I understand." Kiku responded.

The two left the room, but before they left Kiku gave me one last over the shoulder glance.

He sure was not going to trust me anytime soon. Knowing my place I made the decision to stay where I was, but then some time after the two had left I began hearing voices outside the door.

In fact they were right outside the door and I was in the middle of the room with no time to hide. The small group of guards spotted me instantly as they made their way in.

Before I knew what was happening I was grabbed with rough hands and led away from the room. Ugh, not this again... But how did they find me? Did someone betray my location? I guess I would be left to think about it for now.

As before I was brought to the leader of the entire plot with two guards flanking either side of me. The scene I saw before me this time was not pretty. A man with a bullet hole in his head was slumped over the desk. A bit of blood covered the desk and a bit of it on the wall behind the body. This must have been the brother who was said that he thought he was in charge.

Seward Martin stood by the desk with a gun in hand looking pleased with himself he then noted my presence.

"Ah, how nice to see you again Elena." Seward greeted me in a mocking way.

I pretended to ignore him and did not say a word.

"I do apologize for the mess, but he was about to spout out a pointless order that I just could not let him go through with." He said. There was no sign of remorse in his tone or expression. This man honestly did not care that he had just murdered his own brother.

"It's a pity, but I suppose it's your turn now. I am terribly sorry about this, but I fear I just can't have you getting in the way." He said with a smile.

The gun her held was now pointing at me.

"Well it was nice meeting you Elena, shame we couldn't come to an agreement earlier."

I glared at him as he pulled back the hammer. No one was coming to save me this time and so I I came to terms that this was it then? I was going to die then and I did not know what to make of it.


	13. Chapter 13

Here I was about to die and at the ripe young age of twenty. How pathetic, but there is nothing I could do now but except it. It was inevitable now.

I waited for Seward to just pull the trigger and just get it over with. I saw his finger twitch. Well good-bye I guess.

Then a streak of red charged into Seward and he was knocked onto the floor and the gun flew from his grip. He lay on the ground unresponsive, most likely from the shock of being attacked without notice. My rescuer wore red Chinese clothing. His golden brown eyes were focused on the guards on either side of me and just as fast as he had moved earlier the two guards were on the floor.

"Get down!" He commanded me.

I obeyed and saw him with inhuman swiftness take down the other guards in the room. In a flurry of kicks and jabs the guards lay on the ground groaning.

He knelt down in front of me and held out a hand.

"Are you hurt?" He asked.

I shook my head and took his hand. He helped me up.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Wang Yao, but if you wish, you may call me Yao." Yao said.

I must have been in too much of a daze to distinguish some features that gave away his identity.

He appeared to be Chinese, his accent and physical features made it obvious. His dark brown hair was tied up into a loose ponytail slung over his shoulder with his bangs framed his face. Yes, I really should have known who he was without asking his name.

Though his presence only meant one thing. It meant the other nations who were no shows had finally arrived.

"Why did you save me?" I asked.

He did not answer me but kept walking ahead. I had to quicken my pace to match his; he seemed to be in a hurry. I saw the front doors come into sight and soon they were behind me.

"Look what I found!" He called out.

I noticed there was a considerable amount of new faces around now.

"Ah, so the idiot didn't listen to a word I said earlier." Natalia remarked.

"I did, but they found me anyway." I said in my defense.

Wait how did she know I had been apprehended earlier? I suppose it did not matter. What mattered now was to see if the nations would succeed with their plan. So far it seemed to be going quite successful.

"Since she's your responsibility I'll leave her with you Natalia." Yao said.

Natalia frowned at his statement, but I knew despite not showing it she was happy to see me safe.

As this transpired the other nations made their way inside. By the looks of things the final act was to incapacitate all the facilities personal that were inside and put an end to all this. I had not had enough time to try to guess who all the newcomers were, but I did notice Ralph among them. I could introduce myself to them later.

"So, what did I miss?" I asked.

"Nothing too important, but I think it is safe to say we shook them up quite a bit." Natalia answered.

There was a commotion starting up inside, but at the time I did not think about it too much.

I spotted Alfred scouting around the building and glimpsed Kiku talking to someone. Whoever it was appeared to be checking up on him.

Natalia kept looking at the door behind me and maybe that commotion I had heard earlier may have been something to worry about.

Alfred, Kiku, and the unknown person went inside. I could now see that the one that was unknown to me was a woman with long dark brown hair. I just glimpsed her back so I could not make out too many details.

I expected with Alfred's arrival inside the commotion would die down but it did not. However it soon got way too quiet.

"I don't like this." Natalia said.

I'm not sure why she had stayed outside with me, but she had.

"We're going another way in. Something is happening to them and I don't think it's any good."

Natalia led me around the back of the building and found the backdoor we had entered in the first time.

"Get out that gun I gave you, now." Natalia commanded.

I stooped down to pull out the small gun from my boot and gripped it tightly in my hand.

The hall almost seemed longer than last time. Sweat was dripping down both our faces and Natalia's face looked concerned. Eventually, I had ended up in front of her.

I held the gun with both hands keeping it in front of me ready to use it if a wayward guard confronted us. Though there were no guards in sight. It was as if everyone in the building had gathered in one place.

"I'm going to go another way to see if I can find everyone, keep going your way and yell if you see anything." Natalia said.

I gave her a nod and we went our separate ways. Once again anxiety overcame me. My heartbeat sped up. However, I felt something else. It felt something like a thrill rush as if I was enjoying this anxiety.

Two large closed doors were to the side of me when I turned to the right down another hall.

From within I could hear someone talking. The tone sounded triumphant, but the voice was too muffled to understand what they were saying.

As slowly as possible I cracked the door open.

Inside I saw several people. All of them were slumped upon the ground in various awkward positions. One person in particular stood at the very end of the room. It was Martin.

It was then that I recognized the unconscious forms scattered around as the nations outside.

Out of anger I gripped the gun tighter.

"And soon the remaining nations will all share the same fates as you. This world shall be finally remade for the better." Seward preached to his non-listening audience. Somehow, he had managed to do what he had done to Kiku, but this time it was all the nations that had been outside. Little by little Seward was succeeding and I had to do something and fast. A bolt of a new feeling overcame me. It was a similar feeling I had when I first spoke to Martin.

Boldly, I walked into the room.

"Sorry, but this little scheme of yours is not going to happen." I said calmly.

"How nice of you to join us." Seward greeted me mockingly. Though his face betrayed his annoyance at my presence.

Without any more talk I dashed across the room to where he stood and projectile myself into him, knocking him to the ground. A newfound strength was within me and I was going to use to beat this guy to a bloody pulp.

I seized him by the shirt collar, my expression twisted into that of fury.

"I'm going to give you a moment to set these nations free." I said in a threatening matter.

"And what if I don't?" He asked, a faint smile on his face.

I said nothing in reply and brought my fist to his smirking face. In response he kicked me off him sending me stumbling a bit backwards but I managed to retain my balance. I charged at him again but he stepped out of the way leaving me to whack face first onto the tiled floor. Before he could pin me I twisted myself around and got back on my feet. In an attempt to kick him he grabbed my foot and flung me back upon the ground with a large amount of force. Groaning from the impact I tried to get up again, but this time he succeeded in pinning me. This should have been expected; he clearly had more fighting experience than I.

With a reversed position I found that it was I who was being grasped by the shirt.

"Just like your grandfather." He muttered, before flinging me on the ground. I tried to take that moment to crawl away, but I felt a harsh kick to my side and I spun onto by back. My hand lay inches away from the gun I had dropped earlier. He was not going to give me a chance to pick it up.

Before I knew what had happened a loud gunshot sounded out, accompanied by a piercing pain that punched through my leg. I reacted immediately and gripped at it.

"Oh I missed... You may be like your grandfather, but I'm afraid you aren't going to interfere as he did. Though I will admit you gave us an awful lot of trouble." Seward mocked me.

Another gunshot with yet another bolt of pain went through my left shoulder. I screamed this time.

"Missed again..."

His lips twisted into a sinister smile, pleased with the torture he was putting me through. It seemed he was just going to keep shooting at non-vitals till I bled to death. He was not going to let me die quickly.

Before he could get in another shot I used the gun for the first time. The bullet managed to rip through his hand that held his own handgun causing him to drop it. He grasped his hand, his face contorted in agony.

I tried to get another shot in but he kicked my gun out my hand. It landed a few feet away out of reach. He picked up the gun he had dropped with his non-injured hand. Another shot rang out and my vision went fuzzy as I gained a more severe wound, this one was to my abdomen.

I heard him laughing victoriously. Another shot. But this time the gun that made that had been shot was not aiming for me it was aiming for Seward.

He collapsed to the ground out of sight from my field of vision. I saw Natalia approach me and heard the voices of the other nations as they awoke from their trances. However, everything was getting fuzzier and the pain was beginning to numb.

I heard Natalia cry out and I felt her hand on me and then at that moment everything went dark.

But hey, at least I had accomplished something before I died. I got to help save the world, that's certainly something notable. Right?


End file.
